5 Qualities Of The Best Green Plantains You Should Be Looking At

Are you looking to add more banana nutrition to your vegan meal pattern?

You can consume several fruits in a day. It is beneficial to stay energetic and acquire the essential nutrients while on the go.

Savor the perfect delight of bananas and green plantains to bring more potassium, fiber, and magnesium to several meals.

Especially, plantains are super-rich in several nutrient elements inside. Consume unripe one or even taste the delectable plantain tostones in Canada to bring several flavors to a vegan diet.

If you are looking to lay hands on the sweet, savory, and intriguing combination of starch-filled plantains, then look at some of the qualities.

This guide helps you buy versatile plantains and know the different uses.

Top five qualities of green plantains

1. Bright green plantains are best for you

You must have come across different shades of bananas. Yellow, little greenish, and pale yellow with dark black spots are some bananas types. Plantains are also available in several varieties out of which bright green matters the most.

Green plantains cannot be eaten raw. You can make a dish using plantain, primarily in a bright green shade. Traditionally, vegan tostone is a Latin dish that you can make using green plantains. A crunchy and crispy hard-pressed chips structure of plantains is best for snacking purposes.

Moreover, green plantains are full of starch, firm texture, and are slightly sweet. You can add such an ingredient to different sorts of vegan meals.

2. Embrace the brown

If you come across a dark brown shade of plantains, then do consider it for making platanos maduros. Just like green, brown plantains have their qualities. Brown one is much sweeter, tender, and soft in texture.

Primarily, brown plantain is used for making vegan bread or composting. So, let your recipes stick to the available two options only while using the brown unripe plantain.

When you hit the brown i.e., it has reached the fullest potential of perfection. Thus, make small pieces and stir fry the same to make half-crunchy chips or something.

3. Feel the texture of plantains using your hands

When buying the sweetest and most delectable plantains for different vegan recipes, simply feel the texture using your hands.

When you touch and little press the plantains, you come across two varieties, hard-pressed or tender ones. Depending on your meal pattern, lay hands on anyone of it.

If you plan to make some crunchy plantain chips added to your mid-afternoon and low-calorie healthy snack , then go for the hard unripe one. On the other side, the soft texture of plantains is perfect for mashed-up things and bread or desserts.

So, it is on the meal preference to touch and feel the structure of plantains and buy accordingly.

4. Do not rely only on smell

If you think smelling plantains gives you a clear indication of their ripeness, then you’re mistaken about it. Plantains are not like pineapples that you smell and understand the flavor.

Giving a good sniff over a bunch of green plantains at the marketplace will not do any good favors. Instead, you will be more confused about which one to lay your hands on.

In general, plantains do not have any aroma. You cannot smell and tell its ripeness. Touch and visibility are only two ways to understand the ripeness and texture of this banana’s sibling.

5. Give time to plantains

Plan in advance when buying plantains for different purposes. Give them time to change their structure over a period and then use it accordingly.

Once you get plantains at home, then leave them aside, at least for a week, and left undisturbed. You will find the ripeness in the fruit and utilize it as per the meal preference. Do not put plantains in the refrigerator or the freezer. Let them be open and stranded with natural air and moisture changing the structure.

The more you wait, the better will be the ripeness of the fruit, and best used for making delectable plant-based dishes.

Five different uses of plantain in a plant-based diet pattern

Plantains are versatile to be a part of different vegan meals you like. Check out a few options of main dishes and side dishes to make using plantains.

1. Tostones:

One of the most common yet delectable plantain preparations is making crunchy and different flavors of tostones. Dual-fried slices of unripe plantains are hard-pressed to form a crispy chip-like structure. You can find the best variety of vegan tostones from the Ojas Vegan brand and add them to your mid-breaks schedule.

2. Plantain Chips:

Similar to banana chips, plantain chips are single-fried chips. Thinly sliced plantains get to turn into crispy chips and seasoned with your choice of salt.

3. Fufu:

It is like a vegan porridge in which you can add several ingredients like plantains, sweet potato, maize, yam, or cassava. In this particular dish, you need to add boiled plantains and savor the soft and sweet flavor.

4. Dodo:

It’s a Nigerian-style plantain dish. Deep fry ripe plantains are thinly sliced and served with pickled onions or frejon (it’s a soup that contains coconut milk and beans).

5. Platanos maduros:

A caramelized sweet plantain dish that features fried slices of the fruit and is mostly consumed in the Caribbean, West African, and Latin American areas.

Conclusion

Plantains are delightful fruit to add to favorable vegan meals and try new dishes with the same. Check the color, texture, softness, and other qualities while buying the same. Also, make tostones, chips, dodo, and several side dishes with the same ingredient. Moreover, add the crunchiness of quinoa puffs to various meals by shopping at Ojas Vegan.