A couple of weeks ago, I went to a luncheon at a new vegan Thai restaurant in Woburn, MA. It was hosted by the Boston Vegetarian Society. I went solo, and groups were seated in 6. I sat with a wonderful group of people, and we had great conversation. Somehow we got on to the topic of plantains, and two Indian people sitting across from me told me how nutritious they are, and I was encouraged to try cooking them.
I have eaten plantains at Cuban restaurants, and they’ve always been very soft, sweet, and delicious. My husband bought me 2 plantains, and I waited for them to ripen. When they appeared to be ripe, I opened them (I had to use a knife!), sliced them up, and cooked them for about 15 minutes.
I tested a piece, and to my surprise it was not sweet at all, and it was very hard and dry! Nothing like what I’d eaten at a restaurant. I quickly googled recipes, and I added some water, brown sugar, and cinnamon. It cooked for a bit longer, then I served the plantains with rice and black beans.
It was tasty to me, but definitely not what I had expected. I think I needed to let the plantains ripen even more, and perhaps cook longer in more liquid and sugar.
Have you cooked plantains?
asianveganmom 
I became obsessed with plantains when I was travelling Cuba. It blew my mind that it looked like a kind of potato and tasted like a banana. Brilliant. I have never seen them since though and you can’t get them here 😦
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