Green plantain rounds fried twice and flattened between the baths, the savoury staple of the Cuban table.
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AI-generated image, not a photograph of the dish
That brine dip between the two fries is the Cuban move. Salted water reaches the fissures opened by pressing, which seasons the centre and makes the surface blister in the second bath.
An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.
It is the Cuban touch that defines tachinos. Once flattened, the round is cracked open and the salted water reaches the middle, seasoning it from the inside. The damp surface also blisters into a crust in the second, hotter fry.
The first fry at 160 °C softens the flesh without colouring it, so it can be flattened without shattering. The second at 190 °C exists only to build the golden, crisp crust. A single fry gives rounds that are brown outside and raw within.
Green and firm, yes: ripe ones are sweet and brown before they cook through. The skin does not pull away like a banana's. Score it lengthways in three lines, then lift each strip off with your thumb.
One mistake explains the overwhelming majority of falafel that disintegrates in hot oil. The six other causes, and why flour and egg fix nothing.
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