Spicy chorizo joins forces with sweet, ripe plantains in this simple yet flavorful dish. Eat it on its own, atop some rice, or under a fried egg.
This recipe is essentially just two ingredients: plantains and chorizo. I use the flavorful rendered fat to cook the plantains along with a few spices and voila! It’s a meal. But first, let’s talk a little about this dish’s two stars.
What Is Chorizo?
Chorizo is a pork sausage and it is available in two main categories: fresh and cured. Cured (or semi-cured) chorizo is popular in Spain and is similar to your favorite other cured sausages, like pepperoni or salami. The main seasoning is paprika, which lends both color and flavor. It can be found with the other cured meats at your local grocery store or you might have to go to a specialty store depending on where you live.
Fresh chorizo, which is what we use for this recipe, is popular in Mexico and is predominantly flavored with chiles. The exact recipe will of course vary by maker, but they should all have at least some amount of spice thanks to the chiles. I normally find it in the grocery store next to the Italian sausage and such. For this particular recipe, I used a Colombian chorizo that said “spicy” on the label to make sure it had a kick.
Both types of chorizo are pretty fatty, so we’re going to make use of that delicious fat by rendering it from the sausage and using it to cook our plantains. (Fat is flavor!)
What Are Plantains?
At first look, one might think that plantains are just big bananas. Though they are certainly similar, they aren’t exactly interchangeable. Plantains are part of the banana family, but are starchier and with less sugar than the common banana. (I believe it is the added starch that makes them more suitable for cooking.)
Plantains are used in different recipes at various stages of ripeness, from green to yellow to black. When green, many people use a knife to help peel the tough skin, and they are most commonly fried to make tostones. As they ripen, the level of sweetness increases but without that common banana flavor. Fried sweet plantains are called maduros and are very common throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. For this recipe, you want to use yellow or black plantains (though yellow plantains will hold their shape better), making this recipe is essentially maduros with chorizo.
Ripe Sweet Plantains with Chorizo
Spicy chorizo joins forces with sweet, ripe plantains in this simple yet flavorful dish. Eat it on its own, atop some rice, or under a fried egg.
Ingredients
- 7 ounces fresh spicy chorizo, casings removed (from 2 links)
- 2 ripe plantains, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- Curry powder, to taste
- Garlic powder, to taste
- Sliced scallions, for serving
Instructions
- Put the chorizo in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until its fat has been rendered and it's fully cooked, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chorizo to a bowl with paper towels to drain, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet.
- Add the plantains; season with salt, pepper, curry powder, and garlic powder, to taste; and cook until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the plantains to a dish lined with paper towels to drain.
- To assemble the dish, put the plantains in a bowl, top with the cooked chorizo, and sprinkle with some sliced scallions. Enjoy!
I’m totally bookmarking this recipe! I’ve been looking at plantains in my local market for a while, but just couldn’t pull myself to buy them, so now I have a reason to buy a few. Just one thing, other than the preparation of the two sausages in the countries, don’t you find the overall taste to be different? Fresh chorizo in Spain is different to me than the fresh Mexican kind.
Yes, it’s a different flavor profile too.
Just made this today, I like the flavors for sure. I’ll have to use a different more spicier chorizo, but definintely a winner.