these twice-fried plantains are crispy with that unbeatable plantain taste that is to die. I love to sprinkle them with fresh ground sea salt and freshly ground white pepper. This takes the takes to a whole 'nother level!
Peel plantains. Make a slit from the top to the bottom of a plantain with a knife. Gently pull the plantain skin away from the flesh then remove the rest of the skin with your hands. Peel any tough portions of the skin with a knife.
Cut each plantain into about 1-inch pieces. (Since I used long plantains I cut each into 7 slices.)
Place oil in a frying pan up to 4 inches and heat up on high for about 8 minutes. Place plantain slices in the oil and let them cook for about 4 minutes. Flip the plantains halfway through cooking.
Remove plantains from oil and place immediately on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Remove the plantains from the paper towels then immediately use the back of a large wooden to press/flatten the plantain slices - you could also use a glass to flatten them. Once you are done flattening half of the plantains, return to oil and let them fry while you flatten the remaining plantains. Let the plantains cook for the second time about 5 minutes until crunchy. Take them off the oil place on paper towels then immediately sprinkle on some salt and freshly cracked white pepper to taste. Repeat the process with the remaining plantains.
Serve the tostones with your favorite dipping sauce. I love enjoying them with guacamole or a mayonnaise-ketchup dipping sauce. For the mayo-ketch dipping sauce, simply combine a quarter cup of mayo and a quarter cup of ketchup then mix well. Insanely delicious!
Notes
1. The best plantains to use for tostones are green plantains or plantains that barely started getting yellow. The plantains which just started getting yellow will yield slightly sweet tostones which are so tasty! However, stay away from using yellow/ripe plantains for your tostones because if you use them, your twice-fried plantains won't turn out crunchy.2. I always keep whole white pepper in a pepper grinder. That way, I can always add freshly cracked white pepper to any meal. If you don't have a pepper grinder or whole white pepper, feel free to use already ground white pepper or omit the white pepper. Your tostones will still taste great without pepper!3. I use sea salt because it is a great finishing salt. But you could sprinkle your tostones with regular salt to taste. Just make sure you do not skip the salt because if you do, they will turn out bland.