Snack · Sweet Fried Plantain

Mizuzu (Fried Plantains)

📷 Closely related photo — Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

A handful of ripe plantain slices, fried until the edges caramelize, turns a market errand into an impromptu dessert stop.

Mizuzu are ripe plantains sliced and deep-fried until their natural sugars caramelize at the edges, sometimes finished with a drizzle of honey or a dusting of sugar. Vendors sell them hot from roadside stalls and market corners across Rwanda.

Why it's made this way: Plantains grow abundantly across Rwanda's hillsides, and frying the overripe fruit is a simple way for vendors to turn a cheap, plentiful crop into a quick-selling snack that needs no refrigeration.