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Ladob
Plantain in sweet coconut milk
Ladob: Seychellois ripe plantain simmered in sweet coconut milk with vanilla and nutmeg
Sunday lunch on Mahé often ends with a pot of ladob carried warm to the table: thick slices of ripe plantain, sometimes breadfruit or sweet potato, stewed in coconut milk until they turn soft and amber. The sauce reduces to a pale, silky cream scented with vanilla, which grows on the islands, and a scrape of nutmeg. Families eat it warm in bowls, or cold from the fridge the next afternoon, and children like it best with the sauce spooned over a little extra. Pick plantains with black-speckled or nearly black skins; yellow-green ones stay starchy and never go sweet and tender, which is the most common disappointment. Chef's tip: simmer gently and never let the coconut milk boil hard, or it splits and the sauce turns oily instead of creamy.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 4 ripe plantainsskins black-speckled or nearly black (or 700 g ripe breadfruit)
- 2 ½ cups coconut milkfull-fat, well shaken
- ¾ cup water
- 3 ½ oz light brown sugar
- 1 vanilla podsplit lengthways (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Peel 4 ripe plantains: cut off both ends, slit the skin along its length and lift it away. Cut each plantain in half crossways, then in half lengthways, to give chunky batons about 8 cm long.
Step 2: Pour 2 ½ cups coconut milk and ¾ cup water into a wide, heavy pan. Add 3 ½ oz light brown sugar, 1 pinch salt and 1 cinnamon stick, then scrape the seeds from 1 vanilla pod into the pan and drop in the pod too.
Step 3: Set the pan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves and the milk just starts to steam, with small bubbles at the edge.
4 minStep 4: Lay the plantain pieces in the pan in a single layer and turn the heat down to low. The liquid should come about two-thirds of the way up the fruit.
Step 5: Simmer gently, uncovered, spooning the sauce over the fruit now and then. Keep it at a lazy blip rather than a boil so the coconut milk stays smooth.
12 minStep 6: Turn the pieces over carefully with a spatula and grate in ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg. Carry on simmering until the plantain is soft enough to cut with a spoon, has turned a deep golden colour and the sauce coats the back of the spoon.
12 minStep 7: Take the pan off the heat and lift out the vanilla pod and cinnamon. Leave to settle for 5 minutes; the sauce thickens more as it cools.
5 minStep 8: Serve warm in shallow bowls with plenty of sauce, or chill and eat cold. It keeps, covered, in the fridge for 2 days.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 410 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 56 g
- Fat
- 21 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ladob take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of coconut milk?
- Single cream, same amount (not dairy free).
- What can I use instead of light brown sugar?
- White sugar + 1 tsp honey or golden syrup per 100g.
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