Trying to find the perfect plantain can be quite tricky. If they're not ripe, they can be super starchy, like a potato. This is not all bad, I do love an under-ripe green plantain, however, for this Plantain Salad recipe, it's important to use perfectly ripe sweet plantains. Unlike some other fruits and vegetables, plantains can be very tricky to tell if they're ripe or not. Ripe plantains don't appear ripe, they actually appear almost rotten. You can tell if a plantain is ripe by looking for black spots. You want the plantain to be mostly covered in black spots and look like it has had a rough beating. When you open a ripe plantain it will be soft, but not soft like a banana. It should still be firm but have a little give to it.