Fried plantain with scotch bonnet recipe, after Ikoyi

This fried plantain recipe takes its structure from the dish that opens the menu at Ikoyi, chef Jeremy Chan's West African-inspired restaurant in St James's, London: sweet plantain in a thin buttermilk crust, cut with a smoked chilli emulsion and a scatter of tart raspberry.

At the restaurant the dish runs to dozens of components; this version keeps the technique that matters — a buttermilk-and-flour crust fried hot and fast, balanced against real heat and real acidity — and drops the rest. It works as a starter for four or a snack with drinks before dinner.

Ingredients

One crust, real heat, real acid: the whole dish stands or falls on that balance.

• 2 ripe but firm plantains (yellow, lightly spotted with black)
• 120 ml buttermilk
• 100 g plantain flour (or 100 g plain flour plus 1 tbsp cornflour)
• 500 ml neutral oil, for frying
• Fine sea salt
• 6 freeze-dried raspberries, crushed to a coarse powder
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli
• 2 tbsp mild oil
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise

Method

1. Char the scotch bonnet directly over a gas flame or under a hot grill until the skin blisters and smells smoky, about 3 minutes. Deseed and roughly chop — this smoking step is what gives the emulsion its depth, standing in for the house-smoked chillies used at Ikoyi.
2. Blend the charred chilli with the cider vinegar, mild oil and mayonnaise until smooth, then season with salt. Set the emulsion aside.
3. Peel the plantains and slice on an angle into batons around 1 cm thick, so each piece has plenty of surface area for the crust to grip.
4. Brush each slice with buttermilk, then press into the plantain flour so it forms an even, thin layer. A thin, even coat is what fries crisp instead of turning soggy or greasy.
5. Heat the oil to 170°C in a deep, heavy pot. Fry the plantain in batches for about 4 minutes, turning once, until deep gold all over.
6. Drain on kitchen paper and season with fine salt while still hot, then dust with the crushed raspberry — its tartness does the same job lemon does on fried fish, cutting through the plantain's sweetness.
7. Serve immediately with the scotch bonnet emulsion alongside for dipping.

Heat, sweetness and what to drink with it

The raspberry dust isn't decoration: without it, the dish reads as one-note sweet-and-hot. Crushed dried cranberries work as a substitute if raspberries aren't available, though the flavour turns slightly more tannic.

Ikoyi's own wine list leans towards off-dry riesling and skin-contact whites for dishes built this way; a cold ginger beer does a similar job at home, echoing the same push-pull of sugar and heat as the Michelin-starred restaurant that inspired it.