Plantain Chips (Recipe)

Ah, there's nothing quite like walking down a busy market street amidst the hustle and bustle of vendors and carts and seeing children carrying baskets selling this amazingly simple to make snack. (And simple to eat as well!)

Before coming down to Guyana we could see plantains at the store, but to us they were nothing more that large bananas that took forever to "get ripe" and weren't very flavorful. Little did we know we were missing out on a whole way to cook them.

Plantains are used for lots of things here in Guyana. Aside from chips, you can put them in soups! Didn't know that? Neither did we.

Apparently there is a way to use the peels to cultivate better soil for your garden as well. In the Caribbean they have many dishes that use this versatile plant. Unfortunately, not many do we get to sample here in Guyana.

Without further ado grab your oil and a pot and get ready to cook!

Start by selecting your plantains. You want them to be firm and much like a potato.

This is where it gets messy! you want to cut the chips into as thin a slice as possible. When you score the plantain to peel there will be a sticky sap that will get on your hands.

For us this took two days to get off. (Oil helps to remove it.)

An added tip, to get a really crisp chip place the slices out in the sun to dry before you fry!

The more the merrier! Cut as many as you will eat. But be warned, they go fast.

Our frying station.

We let these cook for about the length of two Power ballads.

You will want more oil than what is pictured in this image. (we were quite low when we made these)

Any oil will do. We used Soy bean oil because that is what was on hand. Sunflower seed oil is amazing but can be expensive in the States.

Only don't use coconut oil. It gets too hot and burns the chips.

Once they have cooked to a nice crispiness you can add a pinch of salt and stir.

When your chips are done let them cool to room temperature and enjoy!