In keeping with specific topics on particular days, I am designating Fridays as Come Eat Fridays! Yummy yummy. I love to eat! It is amongst my top three favorite activities. I particularly love Haitian food. On Fridays, I will share a Haitian dish with you, accompanied by pictures, and general directions on how to make said dish, and I will also post a link to a wonderful site that has a plethora of in depth recipes.
Today I want to share with you, the deliciousness that is fried plantain and chicken. Some might ask what is decidedly Haitian about this dish. My response is always: "It is a Haitian dish because of the seasonings, and how it is prepared."
You will need:
Plantain, limes, Adobo seasoning, salt, flour, chicken wings or drumsticks, vinegar,garlic cloves, scallions, and Maggi, plantain presser or an object with a flat bottom
It is best to clean and season the meat first, as plantains do not take long to cook.
Put about two cups of water to boil. Remove fat and excess skin from chicken. Halve a lime or lemon and squeeze its juice over the chicken. Pour vinegar into the bowl of chicken as well. Rub the lime over the chicken. The acid from the vinegar and lime are believed to kill some of the bacteria found in meat, and it also speeds up the cooking process because it tenderizes meat. Pour the hot water over the chicken, let sit for a minute; then drain. Repeat.
Now we will make our seasoning/marinade for the chicken. I use the same seasoning base for all of my meat, fish and poultry. Scallions, garlic, Maggi, scotch bonnet pepper. Mash in mortar and pestle, or blend on high speed in a blender.
Liberally sprinkle chicken with Adobo seasoning before mixing in the marinade. Mix bowl around so that all of the chicken pieces are covered in marinade/seasoning mix.
Next we will flour the chicken. This allows the chicken to cook without burning too quickly. If you like you can even add some Adobo seasoning to the flour. Put chicken pieces in flour. Toss gently to coat chicken. Heat a deep fryer or a deep frying pan of oil. When it is hot, place chicken to fry.
We still need to peel and fry our plantains. You will cut the tips off of both ends. If you are particularly skilled, you can skin the plantain and then slice it. If not, feel free to slice the plantains not too thick and not to thin, and skin it afterwards.
Heat a frying pan of oil up. When it is hot place plantains to fry. Once they have turned a sunny yellow, they are almost cooked, and should be removed from fire. Place on paper towels to drain oil.
In a small bowl, combine cold water, vinegar, Adobo seasoning and a pinch of salt. Flatten plantains using a presser or the bottom of a plate. Dip in seasoned water mix and place back into the oil to finish cooking.
Bonn Apeti! A quick(relatively speaking) simple meal of chicken and plantains; Haitian style!
*Images taken from Google search and iPhoto library
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