Colombia and Puerto Rico fry the same green plantain twice, and this recipe adds one step of about three seconds that many Puerto Rican recipes use: between the fries, the flattened plantain gets dipped in garlic salt water. The Colombian patacones on this site go straight back into the oil. Four servings at about 465 calories, 30 minutes.
How do you make tostones? Cut 4 green plantains into 1¼-inch rounds and fry them 10 minutes at 330°F. Press them hot to ¼ inch, dip each one for 3 seconds in water with salt and crushed garlic, and fry again at 355°F for 3 minutes a side. Drain upright and serve with mojo. 30 minutes for 4 servings.
Tostón or patacón, and what actually changes
The name follows the map. It is a tostón in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, a patacón in Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, and in all of them it is a green plantain fried, flattened and fried again.
The details change from one cook to the next. What sets this recipe apart from the Colombian patacones on this site is the dip in salted water between the fries and a thinner press, ¼ inch instead of ½. Recipes that dip disagree on how long, and some soak the plantain before the first fry instead.
If you want the Colombian version, with hogao on top and no dip at all, that is Colombian patacones and it is a different recipe on this site. Press a whole plantain half instead of a round and you get the 6-inch shells of the Venezuelan patacon maracucho sandwich.
The dip, and why it is not optional here
Salt sprinkled on a fried surface stays on the surface. Salt dissolved in water travels into the plantain in the seconds it spends in the bowl, which is why a tostón tastes seasoned all the way through and a salted-afterwards patacón tastes seasoned on top.
The second thing the dip does is physical. The water clinging to the surface turns to steam the instant the plantain hits 355°F oil, and that steam lifts the outer layer into the blistered, bubbled crust that is the signature of a good tostón.
I use garlic; plain salt water works the same way, it just seasons without the garlic flavor.
Three seconds, not thirty
It is a dip. In, out, shake. I use about 3 seconds, which is enough for the salt to get into the cracks the press opens and for the surface to pick up a little water to blister; some recipes go to about 10.
Left much longer, the plantain takes on water: the oil spits when it goes back in, the temperature drops, and what comes out is greasy rather than crisp.
Use a rack between the bowl and the pan, and let the excess drip for a second or two. Oil and standing water are a bad combination in any kitchen, and this is the step where people get splashed.
How thick to press
Thickness decides texture more than the oil does. I press these to ¼ inch, and at that thickness the tostón is crisp all the way through. The Colombian patacones on this site are pressed to ½ inch and keep a soft middle, and the shells of the patacón maracucho are pressed thin, like these, but from half a whole plantain.
Press while hot. The starch gelatinised during the first fry is pliable at temperature and brittle once it cools, so a cooled round cracks at the edges no matter how gently you push.
A tostonera does this well, but the flat bottom of a heavy pan or a plate works identically. What matters is one firm movement instead of several small presses, which open the edges.
Why the plantain must be green
A green plantain carries 2.3 g of sugar per 100 g; a ripe one carries 17.5 g. Sugar caramelises from around 320°F, so a plantain with any ripeness browns and turns bitter before the inside is cooked.
There is a structural reason too. The starch in a green plantain holds the round together under the press; as it ripens into sugar, the flesh softens and the round collapses instead of flattening.
Buy them hard and dark green, with no yellow at the tips. If all you can find are yellowing ones, they make a different and also good thing — sweet fried tajadas — but not tostones.
What goes wrong
No dip at all. They are seasoned only on the surface, and the crust does not blister.
Soaking instead of dipping. Waterlogged plantains spit in the oil and come out greasy.
Pressing them cold. The starch has set and the edges crack apart.
Rounds under 1 inch. They break under the press before they flatten.
Draining flat on paper. The underside steams itself soft within a minute.
Variations
Plain salt water. No garlic in the dip; it seasons the same way.
With adobo. A pinch of adobo seasoning in the dip instead of the garlic.
Tostones rellenos. Pressed in a cup shape and filled with 1 oz of shrimp or shredded beef.
Mofongo, sort of. Fried rounds mashed in a mortar with garlic and pork cracklings.
What to serve them with
I serve them with mojo de ajo — garlic, oil and lime — or with mayo-ketchup, the mayonnaise and ketchup dip many Puerto Rican recipes put beside them. A tostón is also sturdy enough to scoop up a chunky authentic guacamole. Two tostones a person is a side; four make a snack in their own right. Serve them within 5 minutes of the second fry, before their own steam softens them.
They sit beside anything fried or grilled: a fritanga platter, Colombian beef skewers or Colombian fried calamari. With a spoon dish, they replace bread next to colombian seafood stew or viudo de pescado, and on a Puerto Rican lunch plate they go beside carne guisada, beef stewed in sofrito and white rice. And if you want the Colombian cousin with a tomato and onion sauce on top, that is Colombian patacones.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a tostón and a patacón? Mostly the name, which changes by country. Between this recipe and the Colombian patacones on this site, the differences are the garlic salt water dip between the fries and the press: ¼ inch here, ½ inch there.
Can I skip the garlic water? You can. They come out crisp, but seasoned only on the outside, like the Colombian patacones on this site.
How long in the dip? I use about 3 seconds; some recipes go to 10. Much longer and the plantain takes on water and spits in the oil.
Can I freeze them? Yes, after the first fry and the press, before the dip. Fry from frozen with 1 extra minute, dipping as they go in.
Why did mine fall apart? Either the plantain was too ripe or the round was pressed after it cooled.
Nutrition
Per serving of one plantain with the oil it absorbs, calculated from each ingredient:
- Calories: 465 kcal
- Protein: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 73 g
- Fat: 18 g, 2 g of it saturated
- Fibre: 4 g
- Sodium: 330 mg
The plantain itself, about 200 g (7 oz) of flesh, accounts for about 305 calories; the rest is oil absorbed across the two fries, roughly 9% of its weight. The sodium assumes each of the five or so rounds carries off about half a teaspoon of the dip, around 180 mg a serving, plus the ¼ teaspoon of salt to finish; shake them well and it drops.
In Venezuela we called them tostones and ate them with a slab of queso de mano on top; in Colombia I learned to call them patacones and to eat them with hogao. Josnaisis.