Plantains are rarely grown by Australian home gardeners, although they’re important crops in tropical and subtropical regions.

Like all bananas, plantains are very ornamental and highly productive plants. They’re suited to a warm, humid, sub-coastal climate. They grow well from Wollongong in NSW northwards to Cairns, Darwin, then south to Carnarvon in WA.

Generally plantains are served cooked and are used like potato. Being low GI (Glycaemic Index), plantain is a filling and very sustaining food. Boiled plantain tastes very similar to potato, but the texture is slightly different. So if your diet requires you to limit the amount of potatoes you eat (they are high GI), try growing plantains instead.

Plantains produce bigger than average fruit  - the bunch pictured is carrying 51 bananas and weighs 25 kg. That’s enough starch for a feast for 51 people! The green fruit are unpalatable unless first cooked. Plantains take longer to ripen than dessert bananas, but by the time the fruit have turned almost black, they become very sweet.

‘Bluggoe’ is the only plantain cultivar gardeners are permitted to grow in Queensland. You must first get a licence from the DPI and Blue Sky Tissue Culture is the only government approved source of certified disease-free stock.

Plantains need just the same treatment as ordinary bananas - well composted, freely draining soil, full, all day sunshine and shelter from gales. I feed mine once every three months with poultry manure (half a bucket per plant), and each plant gets a bucket of recycled water every other day in dry weather. I foliar feed them with seaweed fertiliser routinely once every two to three weeks all year round. Normally it takes eighteen months from planting to flowering stage, but mine flowered at eleven months old. The fruit took another two months to mature.

So how do you prepare plantains?

Peeling a green plantain

* Slice off the ends;

* Use a sharp knife to slit the skin lengthwise;

* Peel sideways, removing the skin whole. If you do this under cold running water you won’t get stained hands;

* Store in salty water to keep them from oxidising before cooking.

Boiled green plantain

* Slice off the ends;

* Use a sharp knife to slit the skin lengthwise;

* Slice into halves;

1. 1.*Boil in salted water for twenty minutes, allow to cool, then remove the skin;
   
   

They taste really good when mashed with a little milk and garlic butter.

Or you can serve them as Bubble & Squeak. I used home grown sweetcorn, Ceylon spinach, mild-flavoured chillies, and added garlic and onion. Served with sweet chilli sauce, this was a very successful lunch.

Baked green plantain

Bake whole at 190oC for 45 - 50 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, butter and serve - possibly serve with sour cream and chilli or garlic dip.

Tostones (Cuba)

You’ll need:

2 green plantains

Sunflower oil

Salt

Serves: 3-4 people

To prepare

* Heat the oil to 190oC;

* Peel the plantains, and cut into 2cm thick slices;

* Fry in hot oil for 3 minutes until a light golden colour and a semi-soft texture;

* Remove slices with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towelling;

* Maintain the oil’s temperature;

* When the slices are cool enough to handle (about 1 minute), crush them flat into rounds;

* Re-fry the rounds in the hot oil for a further 3 minutes until they become crisp and golden brown tostones;

* Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towelling;

Serve and salt to taste - possibly serve with sour cream and chilli, or with a garlic dip.

Aranitas

You’ll need:

1 green plantain

3 cloves minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Sunflower oil

Grater

Serves 2 people

To prepare

* Peel plantain (as above), then coarsely shred;

* Store in salty water for ten minutes to keep them from oxidising before cooking;

* Drain on paper towelling;

* Mix in garlic;

* Heat the oil to 190oC;

Fry the shredded mix - by the spoonful, in clumps - until golden. This takes about five minutes;

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towelling;

Serve with garlic dip.

Cleaning up

Banana sap permanently stains clothing. If you do get stained hands, use a flannel and some warm soapy water to clean them. One thing I can find no reference to is that boiling plantains leaves a gummy residue around the water level in saucepans. Ordinary washing up detergents don’t remove this. I’ve found using a soft scourer with Orange Oil, or Citro Clean works quickly and well.

Jerry Coleby-Williams

3rd March 2009