Breakfast of Champions

I had a job interview (over Skype) this morning, so I knew that I wanted to gear up right in the morning. Breakfast here is pretty much the same as it is in the US- usually oatmeal or cereal, sometimes toast with eggs or avocado mashed up. Today I decided that I wanted something different, and something filling. I decided to go with tigrillo, a dish that's more common along the coast or the lowlands, primarily because it's made with verde or green plantains, which obviously grow better in warmer climates at lower altitude. (This isn't to say that plantains aren't an integral part of a quiteño diet, just not so much for breakfast.)

If you want to feel like there's a tiny bit of Ecuador in your kitchen, you're in luck! Tigrillo is really easy to make. You'll need:

• One green plantain (you can find these in the US these days, right?), cut into small pieces, about 1 inch.
• A small onion (whichever color), chopped
• A few cloves of garlic, chopped
• Non-melty cheese- I used feta but lots of people around here use queso fresco 
• Egg (optional)
• Seasonings- I used salt, pepper, and cilantro

Boil water, and put your plantain pieces in to cook, about 15 minutes, or until they're soft and mashable. In the meantime, chop your onion and garlic and sauteé both in a bit of olive oil (or butter, yum) until they're translucent- don't worry, they'll cook a little bit longer with the plantain. Chop up some non-melty cheese, and prepare any seasonings you want- I used cilantro because I had it around, but I bet chives, green onions, or parsley would be good too. When they're ready, take the plantains out of the pot, but save the starchy water- the plantains are dry on the inside, and you'll want the water to moisten the mixture. Mash the plantains with a fork on a cutting board or plate, and add them to the onions and garlic. Add some of the starchy water to get a slightly mushy texture- I used about 1/3 cup with one small plantain. The mixture should look like a weird scramble of sorts. Add the cheese and seasonings and stir around to cook the dry interior of the plantains.

Optional (totally recommended): fry an egg to put on top so that the gooey yolk mixes into the tigrillo. The plantain mixture dries out pretty quickly, so you're going to want to eat it all immediately- and the yolk will help keep it flavorful and not dry!

This is a super easy, delicious breakfast that fills you up! Added Ecua-bonus- prepare café lojano (coffee from Loja, a city in the south of Ecuador) and sweeten it (if you're into that) with panela.

If you had to buy several plantains in a banana-like bunch, you can cut the others up thinly and either fry or bake them to make chifles or plantain chips. Daria also introduced me to cooking plantain chunks on the stove to add a nice crunchy, flavorful bite to a meal with beans or taco ingredients. Or, you can wait until the green verdes ripen to yellow maduros and lather them with butter, cover in foil and cook like a potato in the oven for a while, and then split it open and add some queso fresco or feta- you have maduro con queso, a popular street food, right in your house!