Huevos rancheros is a brunch staple, but I always want them to be better. To be honest, Mexican food in New York kind of sucks compared to LA or San Diego. But we have the best Dominican food in the country, hands down, including my favorite breakfast, mangu—mashed unripe plantains with fried onions. I married the two by swapping out tortillas for sweet plantains, which gives the black beans, onions, and slightly runny eggs a hint of sweetness.
3 ripe plantains (think yellow with black leopard spots), peeled
Olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
Adobo seasoning
2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon sofrito
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup reserved plantain cooking water
Hot sauce
1. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Drop the plantains in and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, coat the bottom of a sauté pan with olive oil, add the onion, and stir to coat with the oil. Season the onions with a few shakes of adobo, stir, and cook over medium heat until slightly browned and fragrant.
3. Heat the beans and sofrito in a separate small pan. In another pan, cook your eggs over-easy or over-medium. (Actually, I don’t care. Make your eggs however you want. It’ll be great.)
4. Drain the plantains, reserving the cooking water, and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mash the plantains with a potato masher or a fork, add the butter, a shake of adobo, and some of the cooking water (as needed) and stir to combine. They should be mashed potato-like in texture.
5. Place a portion of the plantain mash on the bottom of a plate, top that with some beans, top that with onions, top that with an egg, then hit it with some hot sauce.