Plantain Chips

Ingredients

Dip

1 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 bunch cilantro

2 tablespoons capers

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mojo

12 small cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup freshly squeezed bitter orange juice

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Plantains

3 unripe plantains

Sea salt

Oil, for deep-frying

2 limes, cut into wedges

Directions

For the dip, coarsely chop the leaves and tender stems of the cilantro. Rinse and mince the capers. Combine all the dip ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Chill and reserve until needed.
For the mojo, put the garlic and sea salt in a blender and pulse until finely chopped. Add the orange juice and cumin, and process finely. (If you don’t have bitter orange juice, use half sweet orange juice and half lemon juice.) With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady, thin stream, and continue processing until the mojo is emulsified. Season with the pepper.
Have a container of ice water ready for soaking the sliced plantains. Cut off the tips of the plantains and peel. You may need to make a few lengthwise slits along the ridges of the peel to loosen it first. Add a few shakes of salt to the water.
Slice the plantains lengthwise about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick (this is best done with a mandoline), and soak them in the ice water for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the plantains.
Heat 1 1/2 inches oil to 365 degrees in a heavy straight-sided pot. Carefully lower a few slices of plantain at a time into the oil, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Fry for about 1 minute, until crisp, transfer to paper towels to drain and salt while hot. Allow the oil to return to temperature before frying the next batch.
Serve the chips with separate ramekins of the dip and the mojo, and plenty of lime wedges for squeezing.

Serves 6

Published June 28, 2012

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