Oh, Mr. Plaintain!
June 4th, 2006 | by Loretta |Alas. My mother ventured and hauled either 15 or 20 unripe plaintains many weekends ago. Since then, they were sitting on a table in my basement, ripening. I insisted she throw in an apple in one of them, but of course, she did not, as we were in no hurry to eat the plaintains. The purpose of adding an apple to a bag of unripe-anything is to quicken the ripening process.
When produce ripens, the signal being trasmitted is, in most cases, ethlylene gas. It’s commonly used in the food industry, so that the produce we find in markets are aesthetically pleasing, at the right time. For some reason or another, I think bananas produce the most ethylene gas in terms of both rate and quantity.
Anyway, I’m not sure if plaintains are fruit or vegetable. Technically, maybe they’re fruits, since they have seeds, but I always feel that we cook them as if they were a vegetable– the frying, the searing. Then again, due to the large supply of ripened plaintains, mom and I needed to think of dishes to use them in.
Usually, in a large pot, plaintains are cooked with coconut milk and tapioca pearls in my household. It makes a lovely dessert hot or cold. I’m not sure if it originates from Vietnam or just Southeast Asia in general.
Oh, and since we had fresh corn that week as well (yes, it was a very good and happy week for me) mom added about half a cup of fresh kernels. This was greatly appreciated, as it provided a crunchy texture and something to mellow out the rather strong flavors of plaintains.
That was…Saturday. Then on Sunday, we needed to get creative.
If Iron Chef had a Leftovers in the Refrigerator series, I think my mom and I would stand a chance. After applying basic baking principles that I knew, but never actually used, we did the following: buttered a foil-lined baking pan, placed sliced pita bread on the bottom, then dumped on a mixture of plaintains. I took care of the plaintains and mom set up the dish.
The plaintains were tossed in flour for thickening, some water, raisins and some sugar. Oh, and some salt. A pinch of salt goes a long way in desserts by bringing out flavors. Crazy, huh? Then I topped it off with some crumbly topping by using some water, pancake mix and brown sugar. Pancake mix is used in crumbles a lot, since it’s pre-measured, pre-mixed, making it pretty easy and a good time-saver.
Then we baked.
I have no idea how long we baked it.
I also have no recollection as to what temperature it was baked. But I would guess we went with 30-45 min at 375°F…until browned.
The key is to make sure the plaintains are cooked. And also, not to be a hero and eat it before it has had a chance to cool and set. That way, the throat won’t have to burn and be at a greater risk for throat cancer.
Well, at least I can look back and say to myself: lesson learned.
It was surprisingly good, and all-in-all a very good way to get my serving of fruit…or vegetable. It’s just so starchy, I can’t decide.
See? Plaintains can be eaten without being fried.