Best Bolón Recipe - Green Plantain Breakfast in Ecuador

Chef Buck here and today we're going to cook  up a balloon it's a round thing and it's   called a balloon but it's plantain so it's  this right here and I've got two plantains   green unripe plantains and I've already got them  peeled and cooked it's very easy to peel them you   just do a slice down the side you peel off the  skin you know which can be a little tough to   do but just believe in yourself and you'll get  through it and then you want to put it in some   water and then you just want to bring it to a boil  and then simmer it for about 20 minutes 30 minutes   until you can pass a fork through it until it's  soft it's like a potato it's just like cooking a   potato but we're going to make these balloons  which are basically just balls of plantain   and it's I mean it's just tastes fantastic we're  in Ecuador you know if you're interested in   Ecuador or you know I'll have some links and you  can check out our Travel Channel but we've been   eating a lot of plantains and I really like these  unripe plantains I've had all different kinds of   belong this is my own variation of a balloon  recipe I mean it seems like every blown recipe   I've ever had has been a different variation  and at this point I've had a lot of balloons   even camera girls had a lot of balloons or have  you have you ever ordered balloon I usually have   a bite of yours yeah you eat some of mine but  you usually get tagrio but anyway my plantain   is already here and this is still warm I made  a mistake and did my degree recipe with the   plantain cold and that wasn't a good idea but  I'm going to go ahead and set my plantain aside   and I'm gonna go ahead I mean hopefully you'll  you'll have a better gear than I got but we're   an added Airbnb so we're kind of strapped  for materials but anyway I'm going to take   um my uh my plantain water and put it in a  coffee pot which you don't have to do because   you probably got something other than a  coffee pot that you can use but I don't   and I need this pot and I might need this water so  I'm going to set that aside and reserve it and I'm   going to use my pot to smash my plantain in Oh but  before I do this here let me go ahead and start   cooking some stuff too because we're going to add  a few things to the bloom now a balloon it's just   a ball made of plantain and like I said I've had  all kinds and the kind I like is the meek Stone   you know so it's got a lot of different  stuff in it you know I think the Meeks   though usually when they say mixed  though they mean there's some meat in it   but it's all kinds of stuff but I've had a balloon  where it's just plantain and inside they insert   a uh another ball of cheese so it's like a ball  of cheese inside a ball of plantain and yeah I   think that one was deep fried too some of them are  deep fried and some of them are seared like you're   gonna do and I like the ones that are fried in a  skillet uh that one you're talking about was deep   fried and we had another one I had that was mixed  up that was deep fried yeah and man I don't know   it could be good maybe but you better know what  you're doing otherwise it's going to taste like   a big ball of grease that wasn't one of my  favorite ones but we're gonna be doing ours in   a skillet but for our Meeks dough let me go ahead  and get this going so things will be working while   I'm talking we're going to heat up our skillet  and I'm gonna put a little bit of oil on here   and I'm gonna fry up some of the  ingredients that I'm gonna put   with my balloon now the balloon I really love has  I change your room or fat back in the U.S so it's   very it's like a chewy pork and it's really I  don't have to change our own and I didn't get   any change around but here's one thing I I have  been putting in my balloons and I really like   is a little bit of rib meat a little bit of pork  rib and we just bought these at a local rib place   and you know we get enough for us to eat but  then I also get a little bit extra to use   integria recipes and then my balloon recipes  so I've just got some rib meat and it doesn't   take a lot in fact this is probably too much  I could probably use half as much meat as this   and I'm going to try it which is ham you know I  didn't know if I was going to have any rib meat   so I bought this ham I'm going to cube up this ham  and make some balloons and uh you know when I do   eventually I'll put down in the comments whether  or not I liked it or not but that's a that's an   idea untested so you can test it that way if you  don't have access to some Fancy Pants of rib meat   or uh you know you could try with a ham just make  some QB cubes about this size and then maybe just   cook them in a skillet until they get kind of hard  and tough maybe cook out a lot of the moisture   make them chewy you know that doesn't sound like  it would be good you know having overcooked meat   in the balloon but I really like that meat flavor  and I like the chewiness of the meat as a texture   so it's really a textural ingredient but I'm  going to go ahead and start my meat you know   and my Skillet is overly hot right now but that's  fine because if I burn this that's fine I want to   cook this meat down a little bit to get rid of  some of the moisture so we'll get going on that and like I said you don't have to put meat in  your balloon you can just do it with cheese   but I think the meat is Muay Fantastico now here  is something I don't know I don't think that   they use garlic in balloons or at least in the  balloons but not that I've been getting and uh   I'm going to because I love garlic but when I  see it belong like they have them on display   in the windows in a lot of restaurants you'll  go by and they've got like a little glass case   I guess it's like a warmer you know and there'll  be like softball sized balloons and sometimes   there are smaller ones and sometimes they don't  even have them in a case out front but I love   the way they look with the blocks of cheese and  the meat so it's going to be kind of a rustic   looking below and mine's going to be like that too  but I'm going to add onion and I'm going to add   garlic so we'll see how it works out but it's all  about the flavor yeah I'm gonna throw in my onion   with my meat and I'm going to go ahead and let  this a cook up for a wee little bit now while   that is cooking up I'll go ahead and mash up my  balloons you know when it's pretty soft right now   who kids could help with this part yeah I guess  so you know if you got strong kids because you   know this this is kind of hard to mash up but  not too hard but like I said you want to cook   them until they're just like a done potato but  plantain actually has a little more integrity   than uh a potato so you just didn't want  to use a fork oh I'm going to use a fork   but I'm giving myself a head start here so I'm  not having to chase these plantain pits around and hopefully I've got enough plantain here  I've got two plantains about that size here   so we'll see and I don't know I just gotta make  sure I don't have so many ingredients in here that   the structural Integrity is compromised  but as far as how much plantain you use   you know you'll figure that out because  like I said there is no hard and fast rule   you know I've had dozens of balloons already  in this town and have all been different you   just want to make sure the ratio of your other  ingredients to your plantain works for you flavor   wise and then you want to make sure that it's not  going to be so much that your plantain won't hold   together but one plantain per person is plenty I  don't know well sure I mean sure food wise yeah   I mean it's definitely very filling but as far as  the size of your belong you know right depending   on how much stuff I have here you know I'll either  make uh one giant balloon two reasonable sized   balloons or four bones that are too small because  I don't like the small balloons you know I think   I got a good start on this stuff being mashed up  now let it come over here down here into the light   you want to stir around your fork so we can see  how exciting this mashing up process is but yeah   I'll give this a stir that's a good idea camera  girl but one of the reasons I'm doing this here   is to hopefully make my meat a little chewier  and to cook out some of the moisture here but   leave all the flavor in fact speaking of  flavor I'm going to go ahead and throw a   little bit of Ahi in here which is kind of  a I don't know I guess it's the Ecuadorian   version of chili powder it's just a spicy  heat ingredient and camera girl really   likes it so I'm going to throw quite a little  bit in there I'm gonna put some black pepper   in here let that gig go in seasoning wise and  I'm going to put a little bit of salt in here too   and I'm not going to be shy with the salt  and I'll probably put a little bit in the   plantain as well because like I said these  green plantains are very similar to potatoes   so you're going to want to you're going to want  to have a lot of Flavor now I've had balloons   that don't have a lot of flavor you know they're  just kind of homey satisfying and filling   and that's super duper you know if that's  what you want but me I like a lot of flavor   so I'm going to go a little bit crazing with  the seasoning but I'm going to go ahead and   mash up my plantains just a wee little  bit more here but I don't want this to be   I don't want it to be so smooth that  the plantain doesn't have any texture   when we go to restaurants and I get these balloons  that I really like they're not the prettiest   balloons you know they're not going to win any  beauty contests they look a little lumpy they look   if a balloon had an alcohol problem they looked  like that they look like they have a hard life   it looks a little rough around the edges it  looks like a hobo balloon plantain dries out   very quickly and easily and that's why you  want to reserve your plantain water in case   you want to add that as you can see my meat  is darkening up here it's ready it's getting   a little bit chewy hopefully it's cooking up the  onion now I'm going to throw my garlic in here   and let that go for just a few moments and you  don't have to add onion and you don't have to   add garlic but I like as much flavor as possible  so I'm adding it in there yeah you could add herbs   we've had cilantro in it and  I'm not putting any egg in here   so there's not a lot of binder you're  not adding it no no no no no egg in   your balloon oh well let me go ahead and  uh look at this here this is like cement   I'm going to throw my plantain in the skillet now  and get it mixed up and cooking with these other   flavors and it's going to go back in this bowl  once I once I start to get this stuff mixed up   but as you can see it's very dry so I'm going to  add a little bit of my water in here to make it   easier to mix up and then I will cook this water  out a little bit you know and if I added too much   right there that would be fine too because I would  just cook it until it gets down to a consistency   that I like but I'm thinking this looks pretty  good yeah I mean uh I mean I would say it's   it's a little meat heavy when I get balloons out  and about around town you know they they've got   a little bit of meat in them you know it makes  them satisfying but they don't have this much   meat yeah but chicharron with the fat it's very  rich and a rib is and this smoked rib is very   good but I think that's also why they don't  have to have as much it's chicharrones yeah   fat back to those of us in the south all  right so I'm getting it all mixed up here and I think I got enough moisture in here so  let me add it back into my skillet before the   cheese huh yeah yeah yeah because I don't want  oh that's true you don't want it to melt yeah   I don't want to add my cheese in here and for my  cheese to fall apart or melt or become stringy I   want my cheese to be kind of cubey in with my uh  balloon and this is the kind of cheese I'm using   it's just a little bit of a cheese with a  little bit of oregano in there so that's kind of   flavorful in and of itself it's kind of a harder  cheese you know any flavor that you're going to   add to this is only going to make it better Let me  Give A Taste here and see how my salt content is   well the cheese is going to have salt too that's  true this doesn't feel overly salty yeah you're   right the cheese will have a little bit of salt  in it but I don't think it's crazy salty so I'm   going to go ahead and add just a little  bit more salt to here because like I said   it's kind of like a potato now I just got this out  of the skillet and put it in here so it's very hot   so my hands so I want to scream right now so  we'll go ahead and we'll cut the video for a   moment while I go scream well I think you've got  a spatula right oh yeah yeah but you you can use   a spatula but you're not you need to have you  need to form that relationship with your balloon   and you're only going to be able to do that by  hand actually it's not too bad but here let me   show you this here now I've seen balloons around  town I mean I've I've actually got them on a plate   and they're this big I mean I've gotten balloons  this size and when I get a balloon this size man   I'm happy and I'll eat most of it but then I'll  have a little bit to bring home too I was gonna   say then you're miserable yeah yeah you wouldn't  want to eat all that but I think this is going to   be good for two reasonably sized balloons so I'm  going to go ahead and add this to it right now   although it might be a mistake but this cheese  is kind of hard I don't think this is like the   queso that you get yeah fry up in strips but  you don't want to put the cheese in while it's   in the skillet heating up because you want the  the cheese to have a little bit of Integrity now   let me go ahead and smash this around like this  here then I'll use my magic fingers to chop it up   and I'll make two kind of even sizes I hope  and now I'm just going to make a couple of   uh ball shapes so there's one let me see what  this other size is going to look like that's   baseball size that's pretty good yeah that is good  I'm I'm happy with this I think uh I think we made   enough I was afraid that maybe it was going to be  too small you know for two balloons just using two   plantains this size and as you can see it's  pretty smooth it's not cracked or overly dry   let's go to over here in the in the good light  I mean I never dreamed that they would come out   this good I think this is the fifth time I've made  them I don't think I I don't think they've looked   they're beautiful this promising every time  I've made them though they've been very tasty   they've been delicious the first time I made them  uh they were a little too wet and they didn't hold   together as much as I'd like but they were still  delicious yes so I haven't made a bad one yet   although they haven't looked as awesome as these  you know I'm saying that as words of encouragement   so even if you make these and they don't start  out Picture Perfect like this it'll probably still   taste delicious and by the time I finish cooking  these you know they might not be as picture   perfect either but it's still going to taste great  but the thing is I think when they make these   they let them sit for a little bit because I  don't I don't think I've ever ordered a blown   in a restaurant and they've made it and cooked it  and brought it out to me they usually have them   pre-made sitting somewhere and then when you  order a balloon you know they've got it in a   warmer they've got it in the oven you know it's  already made and it's kind of solidified and so   let's wait because you're right there's starch in  it and it'll bind it a little bit Yeah I think the   longer you wait like if you make these a little  bit ahead of time and then let them sit it's like   cookies or anything you know that you shake if you  let it sit for a while and then it then it builds   up that memory and then when you put it in the  skillet you know the plantain will it has such a   short memory it will think it's a ball and it will  stay whereas if you put it in you know it might   remember this shape and try to revert back to this  here but if camera girl can wait for a little bit   let's do it then we'll wait and let our balls  just hang out for a little bit you know not in   that way but you know what I mean alrighty so it  has been a couple of hours a podcast or so ago   so let me start heating up my Skillet let me go  ahead and put a little bit more oil in here and   then I'll tell you about our strategy our strategy  is this is Buck's strategy we got these two big   old balloons but we really only need one of these  so I'm just gonna cook one and then we'll split it   and then we can go out and get some coffee and  dessert because a day in Ecuador without going   out for uh coffee and dessert well I mean that's  not much of a day that's any time we travel yeah   I mean we're here that's your philosophy I  mean we're in the Andes Mountains there's   jungle there's flowing Rivers there's llamas and  having anacondas and Ninjago Waters and who knows   what and so we got to make sure and get out into  the world and get some coffee and oreja orejas   I think so yeah we're gonna get a coffee and  pastry so I'm just gonna cook up one of these   and one of these I'll put in the fridge and  then we'll cook it up later for tomorrow and   like I said we've had these deep fried as  well but we don't like them but it's cooked   I mean everything's cooked the meat's already  cooked the plantains are already cooked so   I could eat this just like an apple you know  the world's most surprising Apple I could eat   it just like that but you know it's already  cooked I'm just getting I'm just frying it   just for the friedness of it so we'll get  going with it right here and you can see   um that it's that it's probably going to be  fine it seems like it's doing all right you know   um as far as it's structural Integrity goes  but that's all I'm going to do is just I'm just   going to roll it around in the skillet until  the outside of it gets nice and fried and uh   crispy around the edges and while that's happening  I'm gonna go ahead and slice an avocado A lot of   times when we see these in restaurants they are  served with a little bit of avocado and an egg   and sometimes especially if it's a cheese  balloon you know you know they might serve   it with a side of meat but you know we've  got the meat in here so that's all we need   I don't know what it is about eating around food  maybe it appeals to the child of me what are some   other good round Foods I think you like how big it  is I do like how big it is because I don't want to   go somewhere and order the uh the smaller version  of I like the novelty of the shape of this food   and again you know once you start eating  it you know it doesn't stay around even with it being room temperature I don't know  that it isn't going to take a few more minutes to   uh heat up the middle of this one oh it's going to  be fine you're gonna have to trust your boyfriend all right how's that looking camera girl you  think we had enough color on there oh it looks   good it smells delicious I think so too that  looks perfector now I can keep doing it I could   keep cooking it for a little bit more but I  think this is going to be plenty good enough   so I'm going to go ahead and get this out of the  skillet too hot to pick up so let me do it like   this here boom boom boom look at that see let me  go ahead and cook these eggs up here all righty ah nice oh yeah yeah did it does that look Perfecto  yes now this here is a very filling breakfast   and I love it but uh we're actually gonna split  this all righty doesn't that look picture perfect   I gotta tell you this is the best looking  balloon I've made that has been this size   okay well your battery is at nine  percent nine percent take a bite   okay eight percent so I'm gonna do my taste  test right here oh yeah yeah yeah let's see   so that people can see oh but I'm gonna cut  it in half too and as you can see it's okay   it's just a ball of plantain and there's  plenty of meat in here and other flavors tastes as good as it looks mm-hmm because I'm I  put a lot of flavor in here I like getting these   out at restaurants it's so homey and filling and  flavorful especially when they serve it with an   egg it's just a great little breakfast sometimes  they don't have as much flavor as this but it's   still good so you can pack as much flavor as you  want it definitely tastes a little bit different   having the rib meat in here then when we get it  out and it's got the chinchanron you know then   it's a very it's very flavorful but it's got a  nice chewy texture which this doesn't have as   much uh because the rib meat isn't going to  have that same chewiness but as you can see   you know it doesn't stay in a ball shape for long  once you start eating it um you didn't put your   sauce on it from your egg I like getting a an egg  that's got a runny yolk look how golden beautiful   it is yes then that's a great flavor with that  you need to go ahead it's at five percent okay   so uh that's it uh I have the lip recipe written  out and you can go over to myfoodchannel.com check   it out uh thanks for watching and subscribing blah  blah blah we got a patreon we got all kinds of   stuff give it a try at home and let me know what  you think you don't have to make them this big   make them small bye-bye oh you is it still going  barely okay try to get your taste test in here   why do I have to be in a hurry because you said  it said uh oh we got four percent take your time

Channel: Chef Buck

Views: 5,315

Keywords: How to make bolon, bolon de verde, bolon mixto, best bolon recipe, How to make ecuadorian bolon, bolon breakfast recipe, bolon desayuno, olon recipes, easy bolon recipe, plantain recipe, south american plantain recipe, bolon in ecuador, plantain breakfast recipe, how to cook green plantains, green plantain recipe, chef buck, my food channel, how to cook bolon de verde

Id: C2r-Yu0QSC0

Length: 23min 54sec (1434 seconds)

Published: Sat May 06 2023