My husband and I use to go out to eat all the time before we started our family. We had enough money budgeted to head out to happy hour and share a few appetizers with drinks. Now that we have our kids, we have made a new tradition of making our own happy hour at home with cool appetizers and fun drinks. Even when we go a little fancy with our appetizers or drinks it is way cheaper cooking at home than going out to do happy hour.
The older my kids get the more I want to incorporate my culture more into our home cuisine. I’ve seen so many new fusions of traditional Dominican food on Pinterest that my mouth just instantly starts to water and get reminded that I know how to make all of this stuff. So for the 3 day Labor Day weekend I decided to make some fun Dominican appetizers to enjoy with my family. I want to encourage you to try some fun foods on the weekend and to enjoy the small moments in life with your loved one, like cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
Here is the recipe my husband and I recreated this beautiful Dominican fusion appetizer.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Items Required:
- Lemon squeezer
- Deep frier or a medium pot that is deep enough to fry
Ingredients:
- 3 Large Plantains (green and unripped)
- 2 cups of oil for frying (vegetable or corn)
*I personally don’t use expensive oil when frying food.
- 20-25 Jumbo Shrimps (peeled)
- 1 tsp of olive oil
- ½ Lemon
- ½ tsp of garlic
- 1 tsp of salt (to taste)
- ¼ tsp of pepper (to taste)
- ¼ tsp of paprika (to taste)
- ½ Lemon
- ⅓ Cilantro
- ⅓ Onion
- ⅓ Tomato
Instructions:
For plantain cups
- Cut the green unripe plantains into two pieces and cut down both sides to easily rip off the peel.
- Cut the peeled plantains into slanted pieces, about 3 pieces for each half plantain.
- Heat oil to medium heat and fry the plantains until they are golden brown. Then remove from heat and place on a plate with a paper towel.
- Use your lemon squeezer to shape the plantain pieces and then dip them back into the oil fry until the light squeezed parts of the plantain turn golden brown as the outside.
- Now you are done and can set them on top of your paper towel plate and sprinkle some salt on top of the cups as if they are french fries.
For the Shrimp
- Heat up olive oil and add in garlic to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the shrimp until they are pink and starting to shrink. Then season with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Remove from heat and use half for garnishment on top of the cups and half for guacamole.
- Cut the shrimp for the guacamole into 3-4 pieces as set to the side.
For the Guacamole
- Cut the avocados and peel off the skin and remove the pit. Then smash the avocados with a fork until it becomes smooth or you can use a blender to get it perfectly smooth.
- Add in the lemon, diced cilantro, diced onions, and diced tomatoes to the smooth avocado and mix.
- Add in salt and pepper to taste, and sometimes we add a hint of paprika to give it a kick.
- Add in the diced shrimp to the guacamole and then using a spoon add the shrimp and guac mix to the fried plantain cups.
- Add a whole shrimp on the top of the cups and you can use a thin lemon wedge or cilantro leaf for the last touch.
- Serve and enjoy with your loved ones.
The best part about popular Pinterest dishes is adding a bit of your own style to the food. We had so much fun trying to recreate this dish that I would highly recommend giving it a try instead of going to the Cheesecake Factory again. And if you are having friends or family over and want to show off some good looking food to eat and enjoy then here you go. What an impression we gave my mom when we served her this appetizer. She said the food was too cute to eat, but since it’s everything she loved in one bit she was more than excited to enjoy our classic fusion. Just as a note it was very delicious and probably will hit the tip of your nose if eat it in two bites. I know a lot of times we want to go out and get spoiled with great food that looks appetizing, but creating memories and fun food sounds more appetizing to me.