Stuffed plantain cups

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Stuffed plantain cups are delicious and cute little cups made out of fried green plantains and filled with your favorite meat, fish, or vegetables. They’re easy to prep and are such a fun and delicious appetizer to serve at your next event. Yesterday, I made and served them as a Super Bowl snack.

I wasn’t an American Football fan growing up in Dominica since I rarely understood the game and was confused by why it was called football when players used their hands. It wasn’t until I moved to Canada that I developed an affinity for the sport.

Moving to Canada, I became more involved in football and even took the opportunity to learn the game’s rules. In university, I dated the star running back of my university’s football team. I learned a lot from him. Although the Canadian version is different, it’s more similar to the American version of football than Dominican football (soccer).

It’s a sport that I have been very concerned about when it comes to my family. My nephew is a star high school football player in Canada, and for the past two years, my fifteen year old son, who stands at 6’3″, 220 lbs, has been playing high school football. I was a little concerned when he decided to take it in as high school sports, but he passionately pleaded his case. Since then, I’ve been his biggest fan, and every opportunity I get to show him, I reinforce my support for his sport.

During Super Bowl, my neighbor always hosted a Super Bowl party. Since they are vegetarian, we’d bring a meat or fish snack for the folks who wanted something different. Guests have enjoyed my jerk chicken wings, barbecue wings, my son’s buffalo wings, and tortilla cups with curried chicken.

This year was different. We didn’t go to my neighbor’s home since we’re practicing social distancing. However, in the spirit of tradition, I decided to make some snacks to enjoy before dinner. I love plantains and plantain cups, so I created plantain cups with smoked herring for the family.

What is plantain?

Plantains are part of the banana family. Like rice, plantains are one of the types of foods that transcends cultures.

Read more about plantains here.

Plantain cups

Plantain cups aren’t traditionally Dominican (Dominica), but they originated from Puerto Rican and Dominican (Dominican Republic) culture. In Dominica, we adopted a flat version called banane pesee (pezee) which originated out of Haiti. Plantain is fried flattened and refried. It has become increasingly popular in Dominica, since the growth of the Haitian population on the island.

How to create your very own stuffed plantain cups

To make this delicious treat, you need green plantains. You may get away with using plantains that are a little ripe, but this recipe works better with the green ones.

You’ll also need to get a citrus squeezer. It’s ideal for whipping those lovely plantain pieces into the shape of cups. The heavier metal ones are much better suited for this project than a plastic versions.

Choose any meat, fish or vegetable. I used smoked herring this time, but I usually use smoked salmon, shrimp or my favorite, saltfish otherwise known as codfish. Here’s a recipe for codfish bulljaw.

Here’s the recipe for the stuffed plantain cups

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