Fried Plantains - Not Plantain Chips - Not Bananas

Dodo a.k.a Fried Plantains

“I hate plantains!” said nobody ever.

Have you met anyone who absolutely hated plantains or plantain chips?

I haven’t.

In all my life, I have never ever heard anyone declare that he or she hates plantains.  Instead, plantains get a lot of love in any form.

7 Common Ways Nigerians Cook Plantains

Plantains can be enjoyed as a part of a meal or as a snack, depending on how you cook them.  Here are some of the popular ways plantains are cooked:

Nigerian Plantain Porridge - Not Plantain Chips

Yellow Plantain Pottage

  1. Cut thick and Deep Fried, Baked or Broiled a.k.a Dodo: Fried Plantains.  And what is Party Jollof Rice without Dodo? Unthinkable!
  2. Cut into thin strips and deep fried a.k.a Plantain Chips
  3. Roasted Whole over dry heat a.k.a Boli / Roasted plantain.  Best enjoyed with groundnuts (peanuts) or peanut butter.  Boli and Epa (groundnuts) have to be in the Naija Street Food Hall of Fame, honestly.
  4. Boiled and eaten with stew, eggs, etc
  5. Made into a Pottage as in Plantain Pottage or Porridge.  Plantain Pottage can also be made with Coconut Milk and Seafood a.k.a Ukom Isip
  6. Made into Plantain Moi Moi a.k.a Ukpo Ogede. If you add corn, you have Epiti
  7. Made into Plantain Fufu from processed plantain flour, just like poundo is transformed to pounded yam, elubo (yam flour) is transformed to amala, and garri is used to make eba.  Just add hot water.

 

Plantain Chips Get Extra Love

As it turns out, some people can’t stand plantains.  But, they love plantain chips.  I think part of the popularity of plantain chips stems from their portability and accessibility.  You can buy them in supermarkets, grocery stores, bumper to bumper Lagos traffic, etc.

Maduritos Sweet Plantain Chips

How can a person hate plantains but love plantain chips? Isn’t that the very definition of contradiction?

At first glance, it seems so.  But think of it this way.  Some people can’t stand raw bananas, but they’ll eat banana fritters and banana bread.  Some people will not eat eggs in any form: boiled, fried, poached.  But they can eat foods that have eggs in them.

I guess the same applies to plantain-hating-but-plantain-chips-loving person.

And if you’re wondering if I am on #TeamLovePlantains, #TeamPlantainsAreNasty or #TeamBananasForLife, my short story, For the Love of Plantain should answer your questions.

What about you? Love plantains, hate them or it depends on the weather? Please share your thoughts.

Have a great week!

*Images: Chef Ricardo, Dooney’s KitchenAmazon

 

Pin It on Pinterest