Plantains, also known as vegetable bananas , meal bananas, or plantains, look at first glance like regular bananas, also dessert bananas . Both types of fruit share one major similarity: they are both curved. In addition, they have several other interesting similarities.
Commonality of plantains, cooking bananas, and bananas
- Both are related and come from the banana family Musaceae – Musa paradisiaca (for the plantain ) and Musa sapientium (for the dessert banana ).
- Unripe plantains, like bananas, are green and difficult to peel
- Both fruits are hard and very starchy when unripe
- Green, unripe bananas can be cooked, fried, grilled, etc., similarly to plantains…
- When ripe, both fruits turn yellow
It's also important to know that there are some differences between the two plants and their fruits. However, I will only discuss the differences between the fruits themselves here.
What distinguishes plantains from bananas?
- Plantains, unlike bananas, have a hard, thicker peel
- Plantains are not usually eaten raw (hence the term cooking bananas), as they taste very starchy, even yellow or ripe plantains
- Bananas are generally smaller than plantains.
- Ripe bananas are much sweeter than ripe plantains
- …
I love plantains and often prepare them, but only when they're yellow, meaning ripe. Then they develop a light to intense sweetness, depending on their ripeness. An additional advantage of yellow/ripe plantains is that they're easier to peel. They're often used for frying, sliced ( missolè ) or diced ( alloco ). Missolè (as they're called in Cameroon) go wonderfully with grilled meat and fish. I usually prefer poultry when it comes to meat.
This time, however, I opted for a nice piece of sirloin steak. First, I massaged the meat thoroughly with my delicious Magic Sauce and left it to marinate for at least an hour. At room temperature, of course! Then, later, I seared it in a really hot pan to medium-rare.
What's a good steak without its herb butter? While the meat was enjoying its spa bath in Magic Sauce, the time was used to prepare a delicious herb butter. All you need is butter, fresh garlic, a few parsley leaves, and a little salt.
The result was simply perfect!
The whole thing as a video
Missole & Beef Steak | Yellow Plantains Fries with Beef Steak
Ingredients
- 2 Beef steak from the hip
- 2 large plantains
- 1 tbsp Magic Sauce
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 300 ml frying oil
- 50 g butter
- 1 small clove of garlic
- fresh parsley (or possibly freeze-dried)
- Salt
Instructions
- Briefly rinse the steaks with cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper.
- Then mix the Magic Sauce with cooking oil and salt in a small bowl, rub the steak thoroughly on all sides with the mixture, and let it marinate for about 1 hour
For the herb butter
- Soak the butter during this time (in the microwave or in a bain-marie)
- Press the garlic clove into the melted butter using a garlic press
- Add the finely chopped parsley and a little salt and mix well
- Season the butter to taste, place it in small molds, and let it solidify again in the refrigerator or freezer
For the Missolè
- Peel the yellow plantains and cut them into diamond-shaped pieces
- Heat frying oil in a pan and fry the plantain slice for about 5 minutes until golden brown on both sides.
- Add salt if desired and keep warm
For the steak
- Place a knob of butter in a very hot pan and add the marinated steak
- Sear for approximately 2 minutes per side, then continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes over medium heat
- Arrange the plantains and steak on a plate, garnish with a salad of your choice, and serve with the herb butter
