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Poor Man's Scallops (Fried Banana)

Ingredients:

Kitchenware:

Steps:

    Pre-cooking

  1. Fully peel the plantain
  2. Slice the plantain diagonally into even pieces that are 1–2 cm thick (0.5 inches in freedom units)

    3. Cooking

  3. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat
  4. Place the plantain slices in a single layer; cook for 2–3 minutes until the bottom side turns golden brown and caramelized
  5. Flip the slices over; immediately sprinkle the cinnamon (and optional brown sugar or salt) evenly over the cooked sides (the top)
  6. Fry the second side for another 2–3 minutes until tender and browned

    7. Post-cooking

  7. Remove from the pan and cool slightly before serving
  8. Make your family and friends happy, impressed, and probably still kind of hungry because 1 plaintain is honestly not that much food
  9. Do it again tomorrow!

Food Critic Review

It's OK, I guess. —My little cousin, 7 years old


Where it all began

Forget dropping $40 at a fancy seafood joint. For pennies on the dollar, you too can pan-fry a tropical fruit, dust it with some spice, and aggressively squint until the food on your plate resembles a premium mollusk.

I birthed this recipe as a hungry SJSU student who had run out of eggs one fateful morning. With an adventurous palate and an already-heated frying pan ready for action, I turned my gaze upward from the fridge to the fruit.

The cinnamon is the real MVP of this recipe. It blindfolds your mouth by plugging your nose with the sweet, kitchen-evading scent of structurally sound churros. You can forget you're eating a plate of mushy potassium coins that are probably disfigured from being stuck together like sardines when you scooped them from the pan.

If you hate salt, fish, or chewing, this is the perfect recipe for you. Indulge in the unmistakable, comforting mush of a warm banana like a newborn baby.