and fried again to crispy perfection

topped with lettuce, tomatoes, and thinly sliced

marinated steak that melts in your mouth,

finished with American cheese

and a heaping spoonful of garlic.

It's the way this tender steak and fresh ingredients

are sandwiched between crunchy plantains

that makes the jibarito a legend in Chicago.

The jibarito is a Puerto Rican-inspired sandwich,

but it was created here in Chicago,

which is home to one of the largest populations

of Puerto Ricans in the mainland US.

Throughout the city,

you'll find plenty of restaurants serving jibaritos,

but the local favorite is Jibaritos y Más.

Customer: It's delicious. It's crunchy,

it has a lot of flavor. I love it.

Medha: This is one of the best sandwiches

I've ever had in my life.

Medha: Jibaritos y Más offers several versions

of its jibarito, like pork or shrimp.

But the most popular version is the steak jibarito.

Medha: To start off, the meat is stewed for 30 minutes

in a mixture of garlic, onion, adobo, and seasoning.

Medha: Next comes the plantains.

Medha: The plantains are fried for seven minutes,

pressed into a flat sheet, then fried again

in order to achieve that crispy texture.

Medha: After frying the plantains,

it's time to assemble the jibarito.

Medha: The next layer is your meat of choice

and American cheese.

Finally, the jibarito is topped with

a large spoonful of garlic.

Customer: I go for the steak, always.

I mean, like I said, I've tried the pork. I love it.

But for me it's the steak.

Customer: It's got great taste.

You can smell it down the block.

Customer: Yeah, 'cause it's right down the street

from my house. [all laugh]

Medha: Jibaritos y Más makes all types of jibaritos.

The one that I have today is the shrimp jibarito.

The first thing I immediately smell is the garlic.

Here I go.

It's gonna get messy.

[crunching]

This is fantastic.

That's magnificent. So good.

Twice-frying the plantain really does make this

crunchy and crispy, exactly what you would want.

And also, also, the garlic that really hits you

with all that flavor. Ugh.

For me, I love that there's a variation

in different textures.

There's the crunch of the plantain,

there's the soft, supple shrimp in between,

and then you have the crunch of the lettuce,

the cheese that's melting just right.

Yelitza's passion for the jibarito

started 20 years ago when she first arrived in the US

and started working in local Puerto Rican restaurants.

Medha: Oh, wow.

Medha: Oh, wow.