Borinquen Jibarito Sandwich
"The Puerto Rican style jibarito (pronounced hee-bah-ree-to) sandwich was created at the Borinquen Restaurant in Chicago by owner Juan "Peter" Figueroa. Here's my take on making his famous jibarito at home. The plantain "bread slices" for this sandwich are most easily made if you have a large deep fryer, but it can also be done in a deep skillet with oil. I originally saw this made on FoodTV's "Roker on the Road" (episode "On a Roll"). According to the Borinquen website, these sandwiches are known as "emparedado de platano" in Puerto Rico."
photo by rowzeeposie
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Yields:
-
2 sandwiches
- Serves:
- 2
ingredients
- 1 large green plantain, peeled and sliced lengthwise and in half (4 pieces)
- oil (for deep frying)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup thinly sliced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1⁄4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 -2 pinch cayenne or 1 -2 pinch dried chipotle powder, to taste
- 6 ounces shaved shoulder steak (or other tender cut such as flank, or thinly sliced chicken breast meat)
- salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 slices American cheese
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- romaine lettuce
- thinly sliced tomatoes or roasted red pepper
- 1 teaspoon melted butter
- 1⁄4 teaspoon roasted minced garlic
directions
- (Also, you will need 2 heavy cutting boards - rectangular ones work better with the shape of the plantain).
- Heat oil, then fry the peeled and sliced plantain for 1 minute.
- Remove plantain from oil, place on a heavy cutting board (if wooden, wrap board in plastic first, which will assist in the spreading of the softened plantain), top with another cutting board, and flatten the plantain between them.
- Fry the now-flattened plantain in the oil again, until outside is golden and crispy; remove from oil, set aside on paper towels to blot oil, and keep warm.
- Over medium high heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil together, then sauté the onions until just becoming soft.
- Add the garlic, cumin, and cayenne (to taste), stir well, then add the meat slices and sauté until browned; season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Spread mayonnaise on bottom slice of flattened fried plantain, lay down 2 slices of American cheese, then the meat and onions. Top with lettuce and thinly sliced tomato (or roasted red pepper), then the remaining plantain top.
- Combine 1 teaspoon melted butter with 1/4 teaspoon roasted minced garlic, then brush the top plantain slice with the butter garlic mixture.
- Repeat steps to make another sandwich.
- Serve completed sandwiches with Arroz Con Gandules (Yellow Rice With Pigeon Peas).
- Jibaritos can also made with other combinations of roast pork, white or dark chicken meat, vegetables or ham - don't be afraid to experiment.
- I've made the sandwich using chicken and substituting roasted red pepper for the tomato, and the taste was phenominal!
Questions & Replies
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Reviews
-
To the people planning to make this, please quadruple this recipe. I was raised eating tostones for as long as I can remember, and it's usually a side to rice and meat; so I thought, I don't know what the big deal is. But I guess the simple matter of adding the fixings and condiments just takes it to a different level. Loved it! -
me and my husband loved this recipe he asks me to make it atleast once week. its the best thanks -
Different but very good. Altough I am from Puerto Rico, I've never had a plantain sandwish. Will try it next time with some thinly sliced pork al ajillo or pork with mojito! -
I have never eaten a plaintain before and I thought these were great! My boyfriend has had a plantain fried alone before and loved it, so when he saw what I was doing to it he wanted me to stop, but once it was all together and he tasted it, he loved it! -
Me and my husband eat here all the time. Wow!!! it is wonderful and delicious. I was raised in Puerto Rico never tasted anything like this. The best in Chicago, TRY IT!!!!
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Julesong
Tukwila, 87
<p>It's simply this: I love to cook! :) <br /><br />I've been hanging out on the internet since the early days and have collected loads of recipes. I've tried to keep the best of them (and often the more unusual) and look forward to sharing them with you, here. <br /><br />I am proud to say that I have several family members who are also on RecipeZaar! <br /><br />My husband, here as <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/39857>Steingrim</a>, is an excellent cook. He rarely uses recipes, though, so often after he's made dinner I sit down at the computer and talk him through how he made the dishes so that I can get it down on paper. Some of these recipes are in his account, some of them in mine - he rarely uses his account, though, so we'll probably usually post them to mine in the future. <br /><br />My sister <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/65957>Cathy is here as cxstitcher</a> and <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/62727>my mom is Juliesmom</a> - say hi to them, eh? <br /><br />Our <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/379862>friend Darrell is here as Uncle Dobo</a>, too! I've been typing in his recipes for him and entering them on R'Zaar. We're hoping that his sisters will soon show up with their own accounts, as well. :) <br /><br />I collect cookbooks (to slow myself down I've limited myself to purchasing them at thrift stores, although I occasionally buy an especially good one at full price), and - yes, I admit it - I love FoodTV. My favorite chefs on the Food Network are Alton Brown, Rachel Ray, Mario Batali, and Giada De Laurentiis. I'm not fond over fakey, over-enthusiastic performance chefs... Emeril drives me up the wall. I appreciate honesty. Of non-celebrity chefs, I've gotta say that that the greatest influences on my cooking have been my mother, Julia Child, and my cooking instructor Chef Gabriel Claycamp at Seattle's Culinary Communion. <br /><br />In the last couple of years I've been typing up all the recipes my grandparents and my mother collected over the years, and am posting them here. Some of them are quite nostalgic and are higher in fat and processed ingredients than recipes I normally collect, but it's really neat to see the different kinds of foods they were interested in... to see them either typewritten oh-so-carefully by my grandfather, in my grandmother's spidery handwriting, or - in some cases - written by my mother years ago in fountain pen ink. It's like time travel. <br /><br />Cooking peeve: food/cooking snobbery. <br /><br />Regarding my black and white icon (which may or may not be the one I'm currently using): it the sea-dragon tattoo that is on the inside of my right ankle. It's also my personal logo.</p>
