This side dish is probably the strangest food I have made. It doesn’t have any strange ingredients (in fact, they are downright normal), but the combination of them is foreign to my taste buds. Aborrajados, which are slices of mozzarella cheese sandwiched in fried plantains, coated in butter, then fried again, are an incredibly common and traditional food in Columbia. Aborrajados sometimes include guava paste inside them and can be eaten as a snack, side dish, or dessert.

For a dish that’s very traditional in Columbia, there’s not much backstory to it. So in keeping with that, I’ll skip right to the recipe!
Aborrajados
• 4 large, very ripe plantains
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 8 Mozzarella cheese slices about 1x1x½ inches
• 3 eggs
• 6 TB all-purpose flour
• 3 TB milk
• Pinch salt

Pour at least two inches of oil into a 5+ quart pot and heat to 360 degrees.

While waiting for the oil to heat up, peel your plantains, then cut crosswise into chunks about 1½ inches long each. Fry in oil for 3 minutes until golden.

While the plantains are frying, make the batter. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the eggs, mix, then gradually stir in the milk. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put aside. In the fridge is fine.

Remove the plantains from the oil and let dry on paper towels for a minute. Transfer the plantains to a piece of parchment paper or faltting to a ¼ of an inch thick. Put a piece of cheese on one of the smashed plantain circles, cover it with another piece of plantain, and pinch the edges together. Repeat with the rest of the pieces.

Coat the plantain sandwich in the batter, drop them into the hot oil, and fry them for 1 minute on each side. They should end up golden brown. Once down, remove with a slotted spoon from oil, and let dry on paper towels.

Aborrajados are not appealing at all while cold, so eat them while they’re still warm and melty!if (document.currentScript) {