This patacon was is so delicious and satisfying! It’s a creative and out-of-the-box way to use plantain!
I love eating plantains as a side but using plantains as the “buns” in this recipe was very different way to use this starchy vegetable I grew up eating throughout my childhood.
A patacon, or a jibarito is a sandwich made with fried plantains as the buns and whatever you desire as the sandwich filling. Traditionally, with thin-sliced steak, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and cheese. Chicago restaurateur Juan “Peter” Figueroa introduced the jibarito at Borinquen Restaurant, a Puerto Rican restaurant in in 1996 after reading about a Puerto Rican sandwich created in Plátano Loco in 1991 substituting plantains for bread.
I filled mine up as a traditional jibarito but the variations are endless! I’m looking forward to doing many different recipes with this plantain-bun method.
Thank you for reading my recipe, if you decide to try it out tag me on instagram @breakthrukitchen. Be sure to subscribe down below to get notified when I post more recipes like this!
Vegan Jibarito
A creative and out-of-the-box way to use plantain
Ingredients
- 1 green plantain
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sliced seitan
- ¼ tsp adobo
- 1 lemon juice
- 1 romaine leaf
- ½ cup sliced cherry tomatoes
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise (optional)
- half avocado, sliced (optional)
Directions
- Peel the plantain and cut once vertically and then once horizontally, so that you end up with 4 pieces.
- Cook pieces in a deep pan with oil at low to medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until slightly golden.
- After 1-2 minutes, remove from pan and place on plate.
- Place a plantain piece onto cutting board lined with parchment paper and use another cutting board lined with parchment paper to squish the plantain piece until flattened. Once flat set aside.
- Repeat step 4 for each plantain piece.
- Cook each plantain piece again until golden brown then remove from heat and allow any excess oil to drain.
- Cook seitan slices in adobo and lemon juice until crispy. Taste for salt.
- Assemble jibarito with 2 pieces fried plantian, ½ cup cooked seitan, letuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and avocado.