yellow plaintains
i have a passion for fried ripe plaintains, and usually have a couple going in my fruit basket, but it's hit or miss as to whether they will ripen sufficiently into the mushy, golden, sweet and sour fruit of my dreams before getting moldy or dessiccated. or -- they'll sit there for weeks and still be hard and starchy and bland after they blacken. does anyone know how to pick them at the store and ripen them to a reliable sweetness?
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4 Comments:
I don't know the horticultural similarities between plaintains and regular bananas but if you keep them in a plastic bag, they might ripen faster. It sure works with regular bananas.
therealchiffonade at 3:20PM on 07/05/08
I believe all fruits ripen when exposed to ethylene gas, and give this off as they ripen. So keeping fruit in an enclosed space traps the gas, and helps it ripen faster. Something else that helps is adding an already ripened piece of fruit; bananas in particular give off large amounts of ethylene gas.
Nicholas H at 4:15PM on 07/05/08
i just did a web search and read that plantains are indeed very sensitive to ethylene. it was suggested to put an apple with the plantains in a brown paper bag. i also read that it's better to buy them at a latin american or caribbean food store because the chances of them being properly handled are better {they won't ripen regardless if they've been refrigerated past 57 degrees}.
cybercita at 12:54AM on 07/06/08
for plantains the final product has a lot to do with how early the plantain was picked from the plant and how it was treated before they get to your hands... I do not know where you live, but the plantains saw when I lived in Chicago, were measely and never ripened up correctly. When you live in markets with a high Caribbean Hispanic population (ie NY or Miami) you might have better luck.
My advice to you is to try to find the best looking plantrain possible - large, with as least shriveling as possible. You want to blackening and shriveling to happen at your house. That way you can ensure the ripeness is done right.
Leave them outside the fridge, because the fridge will cause them to blacken, but will not help the ripening. After they've turned somewaht black, trasnfer them to the fridge to stop them from going over...
And finally, do not over cooke them... sometimes when a plantain is overcooked in the oven or even the microwave... it tends to dry out. Try boiling them or frying them...
Good luck... I hope I could help at least a little.
MadelynRodriguez at 9:23PM on 07/06/08