Colombian patacones are simply the best thing since french fries! Perfect side to almost every dish and a great replacement for french fries, if you ask me! Also and very important they are great served as starters with hot salsa, guacamole of as a snack topped  with mozzarella cheese and pulled pork, or shredded chicken. The possibilities are endless!

Now if you don’t know what the actual plantain is:

Plantains can be found easily, in Norway I’ve had luck at the Asian or Arab grocery stores, they are a type of banana that requires cooking before consumption.  You can read more about them in the Wikipedia page.

In Colombia, plantain is used in soups and stews as a thickener due to it’s high starch content, and fried as chips or as patacones when they are green or if they become ripe then we make “sweet” chips and several other kinds of sides. 

The greener and more “spotless” they seem the better suited they are for making patacones. Peeling them can be difficult but the trick if getting the blade of the knife just under the skin and pull, it usually comes almost right of. 

Once peeled, cut into about 5 cm thick chunks. Drop into hot neutral oil that covers at least half of the plantain. Allow to fry until it turns golden on both sides and you can prick it with a fork. It should look like the piece on the left of the picture below

Between two plastic sheets or silicone mat or any device that prevents sticking, press the plantain chuck until it becomes about 0.5 cm thick, it should look like the round piece to the right in the picture above.

Then, gently slide it into the hot frying oil (medium high heat), flipping it when it has become a rich golden colour. About 2-3 minutes to each side.

Take of the oil place on a kitchen towel to remove the excess oil and salt lightly.

Enjoy!