My trip to Panama with Kalu Yala not only opened my eyes to the world around me, it also opened my mind and heart to new foods and new flavors. A traditional dish in Panama is the patacon, usually seen in plural form: patacones. Patacones are thick slices of plantains (plátanos) that are fried, then squished and fried again. In the small town of San Miguel, in the corregimiento de San Martín, I would order patacones whenever they were available at the restaurants. They were normally served with sea salt and spicy chile sauce (salsa picante), which they mixed themselves at the Taverna del Rio. A special thank you goes out to Katia and Nico for creating this sauce! But even more special "eff you" goes out to them for not revealing the recipe!!
Another food I was introduced to was the chayote, or vegetable pear. This little guy is a light green pear-shaped vegetable that is puckered at both ends and grows on a vine. I first encountered chayote in Juan Gil, a little community two towns away from San Miguel. My primary resource for my ethnobotanical research, Miriam, lived there, and she served me chayote as a part of her wild mission to practically force me to experience as many varieties of plants as possible (an endeavor for which I am eternally grateful, as are my taste buds). Shown here is a photo of the meal she prepared for me.
Today, I'd like to share one way to make patacones and also how to prepare chayote.
Recipe
-The "Vegetables Don't Suck" Panamanian-inspired Dish-
[Serves 2 people.]
-PATACONES-
Ingredients:
- 2 plantains (It's preferable that they be green, or near-green.)
- vegetable oil
- sea salt
- spicy salsa, optional (I chose Mrs. Renfro's Mango Habanero Salsa)
Tools:
- plate covered with two paper towels
- frying pan
- wax paper
- spatula
Preparation:
1) Okay, how to peel a plantain: With a sharp-ass knife, cut the tips from the plantain, then slice a strip (length-wise) of the peel off one side of the plantain. From this point, with your fingers, slowly peel away the rest of the peel. It's gonna feel a little gross, but it'll all be worth it in the end.
2) Heat, on the medium setting, about ONE INCH of vegetable oil in your pan. Seriously. One inch. No lie. Heat the oil until its hot
3) While its heating, cut (width-wise) your plantains into about 4 pieces.
4) Fry the plantain pieces on both sides for roughly 3 minutes each, or until they maintain a golden color. Use two forks, or a spatula to turn them. Do not use your fingers, dumb-ass (the oil is burning hot!)
5) Place them on a plate covered with two paper towels.
6) Between two sheets of wax paper and using your hands, flatten the fried plantains into 1/4 inch discs.
7) Place the discs back into the hot oil, and fry them until they are a golden brown color on both sides. They will also feel a little crispy.
8) Cover your plate with new paper towels, then place the patacones on the plate to drain the excess oil. Add sea salt "al gusto", or to your liking.
9) Add spicy salsa (Again, this is optional.)
10) SERVE 'EM UP!
Pictured below on each plate are patacones on the left,
with the chayote side on the right.-CHAYOTE-
Ingredients:
- 1 chayote (You can find them at Kroger!)
- olive oil
- crushed parsley
- crushed basil
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced (optional)
- rice (optional)
Preparation:
1) Steam the rice in a rice steamer. Yea. I'm a cheater. If you know how to cook rice, good for you. Rice cookers are the shit and I don't need to make rice in a pot because its unnecessary!
2) Heat olive oil in a small pan on medium heat.
3) Cut your chayote into relatively small cubes, no peeling necessary. Do not dice them. Make them less than an inch thick on the thickest side.
4) When the olive oil is hot, throw the green bell peppers and the chayote into the pan with the crushed parsley and basil and sauté until the chayote has browned on all sides.
5) Serve the veggies on top of the rice as a side dish (as pictured above).
Enjoy guys! Let me know if you make it.
¡Buen provecho!
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