In Puerto Rico, unripe green bananas—guineos—are used in many dishes. Inexpensive and abundant, they are filling, nutritious and extremely versatile, easily able to take the place of starchy staples such as potatoes. Indeed, guineos en escabeche offer a tropical riff on a classic potato salad, in which cooked bananas are left to marinate in a garlicky brine. Popular at family get-togethers, guineos en escabeche is often served as an appetizer or side dish.
Recipe Servings: 6
Prep Time
20 minutes
+ 4 hours resting
+ 4 hours resting
Cook Time
40 minutes
Total Time
5 hours
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Kosher
Halal
Ingredients
- 2 lbs green bananas
- 1¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 12 whole black peppercorns
- 6 cloves garlic
- 6 small red onions, thinly sliced
- 3 bay leaves
- ¾ cup pitted green olives
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Directions
- In a pot set to medium heat, combine all ingredients except bananas and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to low and continue simmering for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and allow the sauce to cool.
- While the sauce is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
- Without removing the banana skins, use a sharp knife to cut ends off and make a slit, lengthwise, along the middle of each peel.
- Drop bananas into boiling water. Over medium low heat, boil bananas for around 15–20 minutes, until cooked. Bananas are done when flesh is tender but firm. It should not be mushy.
- Drain bananas and allow to cool slightly before peeling off skins. Cut bananas into pieces around 1 inch in length and place in a glass bowl.
- Pour sauce over bananas and blend well.
- Allow mixture to cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3–4 hours (preferably overnight) to let the flavors blend.
- Serve chilled.
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