Plantains in Syrup
Plátanos en Almíbar
Clive Britcher (karadekoolaid)
Here's a classic Venezuelan dish; plantains cooked in raw cane sugar. It is perfect if cooked with jaggery. Not only is it served with ice-cream as a sweet course, but also as an accompaniment to meat and chicken. Sometimes, we cook plantain with less sugar, then place in an ovenproof dish, cover with egg custard and cook until set. This is called "Torta de Pl?tano" (Plantain cake). This is generally served with a main, meat course, or with a full, Venezuelan breakfast of scrambled eggs, fried cheese, black beans, "pulled" (i.e. jerk) beef skirt, arepas (corn bread) and avocado. The plantains should be very ripe, their skins should be black when you buy them. Black skinned plantains are not rotten, they are just perfect to cook. You can use slightly unripe bananas instead.
Serves 6
Ingredients
3 large, ripe plantains (or use slightly under-ripe bananas)
1/2 cup oil for frying
350 gm. raw cane sugar or jaggery or dark brown or muscovado sugar
1/2 cup water
6 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
Instructions
Slice the plantains lengthwise, and then cut each half into three pieces.
Heat oil in a wide frying pan and fry the plantains on moderate heat, until they browned on both sides, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the sugar, water, cloves and cinnamon into a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the liquid has reduced (about 15 minutes).
Then add the plantains to the syrup and cook for a little longer until the syrup thickens.
Remove from pan and transfer to a serving dish.
Cool and serve with ice-cream or main, meat course (see introduction).
It can be served sprinkled with white cheese (I'd go for a Caerphilly or Wensleydale).
