My roommate entered the kitchen with a huge smile on her face, "Mmm, It smells like Puerto Rico in here!" She was totally right! If you close your eyes while eating this dish you will probably start hearing salsa music in the background and feel an ocean breeze enter your abode, even if you're living in the mountains somewhere, and it's snowing, and you've never even seen the ocean.
The flavors and textures of this dish are wonderful. I don't know about you but I LOVE sweet and salty combinations. Popcorn + chocolate, milkshakes + french fries, syrup drenched pancakes + bacon... (Do you feel like you just gained 5 pounds reading that?) This dish has that element if you make it with the sweet plantains (or amarillitos like I call them). They are the PERFECT compliment to the mashed yuca with fish. Trust me. And that little slice of avocado there was just for the picture. I ate like three slices. :D
I loved the fish so much that I'm thinking of using it in tacos or rice bowls. You can also make a regular plantain mofongo and stuff the fish in there too. Or you can just grab a fork and eat it straight out of the pan! It's that good.
I loved the fish so much that I'm thinking of using it in tacos or rice bowls. You can also make a regular plantain mofongo and stuff the fish in there too. Or you can just grab a fork and eat it straight out of the pan! It's that good.
Step 1. Throw your dumbbells out in the trash. Roll up your sleeves, grab the sharpest knife you have and get ready for a real arm workout! Peeling and cutting a yuca is not for the faint of heart. I guarantee you're gonna break out a sweat (unless you actually do live in those snowy mountains!). Are you ready? Good! Set a large pot of salted water to boil and cut the yuca into sections. Take each section and stand it on end on your cutting board. Then cut away the skin in strips.
After cutting away the peel keep the piece standing on end and slice it down the middle. Afterwards cut it in half one more time so that you have little yuca rectangles like in the picture. Then put all the yuca pieces in the boiling water and boil for about 25-35 minutes or until you can easily pierce the pieces with a fork. The first photo looks like a yuca massacre. lol
Now it's time to get started on the fish. Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a medium sized pan and set heat to medium. Once hot add the onions and tomatoes to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft and a broth starts to form. Then stir in garlic and capers. Add the fish to the pan and the spices and lemon juice.
The fish will start to cook very quickly. Once you finish adding all the previous ingredients it will already be in the process of turning white and flaky and fabulous. At this point, start breaking it with a big spoon and mixing everything together. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and turn off heat. Set aside.
With a slotted spoon take the yuca pieces out of the water and place them in a medium sized bowl or a mortar. Grab a pestle or a potato masher (or wait until it cools and use your hands) and start mashing it all together. Add a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and keep mashing it. Give it a taste. Adjust oil and salt to your liking. (Remember, the fish has a lot of flavor, so you don't want the yuca to be too salty.) Form three balls with the yuca. Use your imagination and pretend you're a sculptor for a moment. :P
If you want to make the fried sweet plantains now's the time to make them. Fill a frying pan with enough oil so that the plantain slices are halfway submerged in it. Set it in medium heat. Cut the end off the plantain and with your knife cut a line through the peel from end to end and then peel off. Slice it diagonally like in the picture.
Once oil is hot start frying the pieces. When they come in contact with the oil there should be sizzling. If nothing happens the oil is not hot enough and they can get soggy. Fry about 2 minutes on each side, or until they start getting golden brown. Drain them in paper towel.
And finally it's time for assembly! Take each ball of yuca and flatten it down with your hand on a plate and form into a bowl. Then fill it with fish, arrange the amarillitos on the plate, and add a slice of avocado. ¡Buen provecho! :)
And here's the full recipe with all those nifty measurements and stuff:
Mashed Yuca Stuffed with Fish in Criollo Sauce and Sweet Fried Plantains
Ingredients:
Mashed Yuca:
Preparation Instructions:
Mashed Yuca:
- 2 lb yuca (or cassava)
- Salt
- Olive oil
- 3 filets of flounder, tilapia, or any white fish
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp of capers in their juice
- 1/2 tsp annato
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- Juice of a whole lemon
- 1 ripe plantain
- Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation Instructions:
- Set a large pot of salted water to boil.
- Cut and peel the yuca (see images above) and cook in boiling water for 25-35 minutes, until you can pierce the yuca easily with a fork.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in medium heat in a medium sized pan.
- Once oil is hot add the tomatoes and onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook until soft and broth starts to form.
- Stir in garlic and capers.
- Add fish, annato, cumin, oregano and lemon juice.
- Once fish starts to turn white and flaky start breaking it with a large spoon and mixing everything together.
- Cook for about 2-3 minutes and set aside.
- Drain yuca and put it in a medium sized bowl or mortar.
- With a pestle, potato masher (or your hands if yuca is cool) mash the yuca and add about 1/2 tsbp of olive oil and a few sprinkles of salt and keep mashing. Taste it. Adjust oil and salt to taste. Form three balls of yuca.
- Pour enough oil in a frying pan so that the plantain slices can be submerged halfway in the oil. Set head to medium.
- Cut ends of plantain and peel. Cut into diagonal slices (see images above).
- Fry plantain slices for about 2 minutes on each side or until they start to get golden brown.
- Drain plantain slices in a plate lined with paper towel.
- Take a ball of yuca and flatten it down with your hand on a plate. Shape it into a bowl with your fingers (see images above) and fill it with fish. Serve with amarillitos and aguacate.