How to pick ripe plantains for maduros?
I'm trying to make sweet fried plantains (maduros) but I'm not having much success. I've tried frying on low, medium, and high heat and with varying amounts of oil. The plantains never come out soft and sweet but dry (depending on cooking time) and starchy tasting. I suspect it is because the fruit is either not ripe or bad quality.
Compared to a ripe banana, how soft should the plantain be before peeling? Once peeled, how soft should the flesh be? Also, should it be sweet prior to frying? The pic below shows a fruit prior to preparation. Does this look ripe enough? I have also tried letting it ripen until the skin was almost completely black but at that point the fruit seems to have gotten bad.
Best Answer
For fried or oven-roasted maduros you want the plantain to be a bit riper than the one you pictured. I usually wait until they are closer to the following:
The flesh should be yielding and have a slightly sweet flavor, but not be completely mushy or soggy. It's ok if there are a few mushy spots. If your final product is starchy tasting, then they were not ripe enough. If you can't get riper plantains make sure to keep the slices thin enough (<1/2" or 1cm) so that the interior can get fully cooked before the exterior burns.
They should be fried in oil or lard that is around 350?F (180?C)
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Quick Answer about "How to pick ripe plantains for maduros?"
A ripe plantain is best when it's mostly black with a little yellow, and still slightly firm to the touch, like when you squeeze a peach. Although completely black plantains are still good to eat, they are a little too soft, making them difficult to prepare. But they're still delicious.How ripe Should a plantain be for maduros?
Plantains, like bananas, start out very firm and ripe and slowly turn yellow and then brown. When you want to make pl\xe1tanos maduros, you need to wait until they are fully brown. Wait even longer than you'd wait for bananas to overripen if you were making banana bread.How dark should plantains be for maduros?
Plantains change color as they ripen: They are firm when green and unripe, then soften as they turn yellow, and eventually, black. Like bananas, plantains develop more sugar as time passes. For the sweetest maduros, use blackened plantains \u2014 they have the most sugar, and will yield a more caramelized result.Plantain States of Ripeness and Uses
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Answer 2
Funnily enough I saw Didgeridrew's reply above and thought, "Hey, that looks like a photo that I took ..." and sure enough, it's from my post on The Kitchn in 2009 about how to make plátanos maduros. :)
If you think yours are too starchy then you're not letting them ripen enough, and they don't have enough sugars in them. Try putting them in a paper bag with an apple to speed the ripening process, and when the skin is completely black and the flesh is a bit soft, slice them 1/2 inch thick, and fry in hot oil. Don't turn them too soon, because you want those nice caramelized edges.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Michael Burrows, Alexey Demidov, Zen Chung, Zen Chung