Twice-Fried Plantains with Gingered Tuna Tartar and Guacamole Recipe

A great entertaining recipe featuring Virginia grown ginger.

I'm excited to share with everyone this easy and fun cocktail nibble recipe and video featuring Virginia grown ginger. It's a recipe for Twice-Fried Plantains with Gingered Tuna Tartar and Guacamole, and it's my latest for The Virginia Farm Bureau's "Heart of the Home" cooking segment, which I am happy to report has now doubled in production, which means more recipes and more shows featuring Virginia everything.

You can catch these shows in their entirety here as well as here on various statewide cable and satellite stations. However, for a play by play on how to make this creative nibble that's best described as being a little Cuban and a little Asian all wrapped into one tasty bite, check out the above video. Savory plantains are double fried until they're super crispy and then topped with a fresh tuna tartar blended with sesame oil, green onions, and of course, a healthy dose of freshly grated Virginia ginger before receiving a dollop of creamy guacamole. You'll have to trust me on this one, it is an amazingly addictive combination.

Enjoy!

Twice-Fried Plantains topped with Gingered Tuna Tartar and Guacamole

Serves approximately 20 as a cocktail nibble

For the Tartar:

1 pound sushi-grade tuna, cut into ¼-inch cubes
3 tablespoons soy sauce or Japanese shoyu sauce
3 tablespoons green onions, minced
3 tablespoons sweet onion, diced
1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Dash of garlic chili sauce or Sriracha sauce, optional
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (either white or black)

Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.

For the Guacamole:

2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
Juice of ½ a small lime
1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced or grated
1/2 teaspoon jalapeno, finely minced (or to taste)
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced, plus extra for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a medium-sized bowl , mash your avocados coarsely (leaving a few chunks here and there). Add the rest of your ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with additional fresh lime juice and cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the Plantains:

3 to 4 large unripe (green) or barely ripe (slightly yellow) plantains
2 cups (approximately) peanut or canola oil, for frying

With a sharp, small knife, cut the ends from each plantain and cut a lengthwise slit through the skin. Peel away the skin and discard. Cut plantains crosswise into 1 ½-inch thick pieces.

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat a ½ inch of oil over moderate heat. It should be just hot enough to sizzle when a plantain piece is added. Fry plantains in batches, without crowding, until tender and just golden, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. With tongs, transfer plantains to paper towels to drain. Repeat until you've cooked all of the plantains.

Remove skillet from heat and reserve the oil. With the bottom of a heavy saucepan or a wide solid metal spatula, flatten plantains to ¼ inch thick and about 3 inches in diameter. Heat the reserved oil over moderate heat until hot, but not smoking. Fry the flattened plantains again in batches, without crowding, until golden, about 2-3 minutes. With tongs, transfer plantains onto paper towels to drain. Season lightly with salt, if desired.  Keep plantains warm in the oven until ready to top with the tuna and guacamole.

To serve: Top each plantain with a spoonful of the tuna tartar and then a dollop of guacamole. Repeat until you’ve used up all of your ingredients. Serve immediately on a platter garnished with cilantro and lime slices.

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Hawaiian Tuna Poke-- Real Onolicious Grinz

Tuna poke w/Hawaiian kettle chips for crunch

The first time I ever tried Hawaiian poke (pronounced pokē) was in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. We were there because my husband, Tim, had qualified for the Ford Ironman World Championships which, as you can imagine, is a story in and of itself. Much of our first week was spent resting and relaxing before the race since, as some of you may or may not know, Ironman Hawaii is a grueling 2.4 mile ocean swim, followed by a 112-mile bike and finally, a full 26.2 mile marathon. It's an all-day intensely grueling race in unbearable heat and is not for the faint of heart, so anyone who dares to compete in it (a la my hubby) must monitor their diet and rest accordingly (which meant for us, no raw fish goodies).

Tim starting 26.2 miles after 112 mile bike. He so crazy.

After the race was another story. In addition to consuming plenty of Kona Longboards, Tim was free to indulge in plenty of local cuisine (a.k.a local kine), and in addition to gobs of sushi, bulgogi, adobo, Kalua pork, Spam musubi, lau lau, pancit noodles, even the infamous loco moco, a heart-attack inducing combination of two fried eggs, two fried meat patties, resting atop rice and mayonnaisy mac salad that's then smothered in gravy, we ate loads of tuna poke.

Poke is a Hawaiian pupu (or appetizer) consisting of diced raw tuna, shoyu, fresh grated ginger, onions (Maui onions and green onions) and sesame oil. There are numerous variations to this basic theme including the addition of ogo (seaweed), furikake (a seaweed and dried fish combo), kukui nuts, wasabi, masago, mayo...the list goes on and on. Even better, poke can be found anywhere and everywhere, from grocery stores to gas stations, and this ain't half-ass road stop food. The poke we sampled as we drove all over the island was delightfully fresh with a creamy texture that only raw tuna can provide. It was positively addicting, especially when eaten with a bag of salty potato or taro chips.

Naturally, really fresh sushi-grade tuna (preferably yellowfin) is essential since this dish is 100 percent raw, so opt for the best you can find. As far as other ingredients go, you can use your imagination or reference legendary Hawaiian Chef Sam Choy's book simply titled Poke which is chock full of poke recipes, and not just tuna. Chef Choy includes an array of versions, from lobster poke to steak poke.

To really enjoy this Hawaiian delicacy, have yourself a poke party and throw in a couple of tuna maki, spicy tuna and avocado rolls for good measure. It's a light, fun-to-make, summery meal that gets everyone involved. Scroll down for a basic poke recipe and feel free to make it your own with the addition of nuts, seaweed, red chiles, avocado, even chopped Hanover tomato. It's totally up to you.

 Classic Hawaiian Poke

(Serves 2)

1/2 pound sushi-grade tuna, cubed

2 tablespoons soy sauce or shoyu

2 tablespoons green onion, minced

2 tablespoons sweet onion, diced

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Dash of garlic chile sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame

                                                      Hawaiian red sea salt*, to taste

Mix all ingredients except sea salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cover and refrigerate for two hours. Spoon poke into martini glasses with a sprinkle with sea salt. Garnish with Hawaiian kettle chips or taro chips.

*If you can get your hands on real Hawaiian sea salt, do so. If not, any coarse sea salt will do.

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission Pin It Now!