1 lb of peeled and halved or slice into 3rds, if the plantains is to thick.
1 C of rice flour(regular or glutinous rice flour, are both fine) or for a more thicker/heartier crust 50/50 rice and AP flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C of shredded unsweetened coconut flakes or fresh finely shredded coconut meat
1TBSP of untoasted sesame seeds, either white or black is fine or a mixture
1/2 tsp or a pinch of salt
3/4C of water mix with 1tsp of limestone paste or 1/5tsp of baking soda will have the same effect
enough oil of any kind, to fill the wok 1/3 or deep pot about 2" , from the bottom.
Peeled 1lb of burro/Orinoco plantains. Slice the 5-6" plantains into half or 3rd, if it's an extra thick plantain. You can use regular long plantain or any kind of cooking bananas, with a firm flesh. For the plantains, use the really black or almost all black ones, but still firm. The yellow ones are not as sweet and the green ones is just to starchy. If, using the long plantains, cut the plantain into 3rds, then slice each 3rds into halves. But any other cooking banana/plantains, that is 4-6", doesn't need to be cut up just slice it in half. Next, mix all the dry ingredients together, except the baking soda or lime stone paste/powder. Mix the baking soda/limestone paste/powder into the water, until dissolve. Then pour into the dry mixture. Mix well until well blended. It will have a pancake batter texture, but not as thick as waffle batter. If you would like a thinner/thicker batter, just add more water or more flour. But, only add 1 TBSP at a time of either water or flour.
Heat the oil, until, it gets hot enough. I don't know temps, maybe 375-400F, but what I do is drop a little bit of batter into the hot oil. If it sizzle and floats up immediately, the oil is ready. The other method, I have used, to test the oil's readiness, use a wooden chop stick or a wooden spoon, dip the long end of the spoon or the chop stick in the center of the oil. If, there is bubble coming from the submerge wooden cooking utensil, it's ready.
When the oil is ready, you can either drop all the banana slices into the batter and mix well to coat or dip each pieces, one by one. One by one, gets a better coat on the slices. Drop, them in, slowly, so the hot oil, doesn't splash on you. You, don't want your hands, to be cooked as well
Drop only 3-5 pieces in at a times, so they don't stick to each other and you don't make the oil temps drop. The first side is cooked for about 30secs, then turn over, then keep turning them over every now and then, until both sides are golden brown. Drain onto a line paper plate or better yet, on a wire rack, so the oil, will drip away faster. Serve while still warm or keep in the oven on the warm option, until ready to serve. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but any kind of ice cream of your choice will work well. Or, for a lighter note, server with a dollop of whip cream or dust of powder sugar. But, eating, them plain, while still warm, is still the best way to go about it.
Note:the limestone/baking soda, is to help the crust become crisper and lighter. Rice flour is use, because, it's give a very light crispy crust, but for a thicker/heavier crust, only the use of AP flour is fine. Rice flour can be either regular rice flour or sticky/glutinous/sweet rice flour. Also, if only AP flour is use, the crust will absorb, more oil, therefore when the fritters, get cold, it gets really greasy/oily, but will still taste just as good.
Enjoy the picture, of tonight's dessert