Mofongo Recipe Variation

 

My take on Puerto Rican Mofongo

What in the world is Mofongo?  I know, I asked this same question when I recently visited Puerto Rico.

Mofongo is a traditional dish that is served in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and West Africa.

It consists of mashed, green Plantains, garlic, and fat. Most of the time the recipe also has crispy Pork rinds added.  There are variations to this recipe out on the Internet.  At times it may have meat, spices, and sauce added as well.

Here is a link to a little bit of it's history. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/mofongo-the-beloved-puerto-rican-mash-with-deep-ties-to-africa/2017/08/01/07e468e0-6252-11e7-84a1-a26b75ad39fe_story.html

My husband ordered Mofongo when we were visiting the Copamarina Beach Resort's Las Palmas restaurant. The dish was brought to us looking like a lot of texture and mainly colored tans/yellows.  The restaurant had the Mofongo nicely plated.  My husband and I tasted the concoction not sure what we were tasting. At that point, we had never heard of this dish or knew what was in it.  

It had a nice taste to it.

When we returned home, I decided to try making this dish myself.  

I tried to tweak the traditional recipe to make the green Plantains take on more flavor. Green Plantains do not have much flavor, but they do absorb lots of flavor from other foods added to it.

My first recipe came out high in flavor. This recipe is not a traditional Puerto Rican Mofongo, but I feel it has great merit.

After I tell you about my recipe, then I will suggest a lower fat recipe.

Mofongo by Cynthia Bergsbaken adapted from Traditional recipes found on the Internet.

3 green Plantains  (do not use ripe Plantains, wrong flavor.)

•      Take skin off and slice into about 3/4 inch slices.
•      Heat enough Olive oil and butter, about 1 " in a heavy cast iron pan (about 1/2 Olive oil and         1/2 unsalted butter used.  (I was looking for health and flavor.))
•      When the oil is hot enough, about 370 F, add the Plantain slices and fry until tender. 

               (Note, the Plantain will not become really soft.  They soften up a bit, but not extremely soft.)  
               Fry for 6 minutes or so.

•      While frying the Plantains, in a large bowl add:

1.  Juice from 2 Key limes.
2. 1 tablespoon of dried Cilantro
3. 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of dried garlic. Grind to a powder. ( I used freeze-dried garlic and ground it.)
4. About 2 teaspoons of whole Coriander- grind before using.
5. 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Cumin

• Mix these 5 ingredients.
• Your Plantains are done!  Take the Plantains out and place in the large bowl with your five ingredients.  
• Mash the Plantains.  I used a potato masher with large holes at first.  When I had most the Plantain coarsely mashed, I switched to using my pestle from my mortar and pestle set.
• You are looking for a coarse mash with medium to small bits remaining.  (I suggest you do not use a food processor to do this mash.  I feel it would be the wrong texture.  Too creamy.)
• When I had the texture I was looking for, I mixed the Plantain with a spoon, making sure all the spices at the bottom of the bowl were completely mixed through.
• Now add:

1. 2 to 3 tablespoons of the Olive oil/butter mixture, used from frying the Plantains.
2. 1/2 cup of French fried onions.  (You can buy these ready made in the grocery store by the canned vegetables.  Mainly thought of when making green bean side dish for Thanksgiving.)
3. 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt. (I like to add little salt, thus I allow people to add the amount of salt they want.)

• Mash/mix once more.
• To serve, you want to take about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the mixture and place in a small bowl.
• Push down with the back of a large spoon to compact this mixture into the bowl.
• Gently use a knife to loosen up the edges around the Mofongo and bowl.  This will help it to slide out.
• Turn the bowl over a serving plate.  Let the Mofongo gently fall out.
• Immediately serve. 
• This recipe made about 3 1/2 servings when I served about 3/4 cup/ serving.

1. Note, Mofongo is really filling!  So you may want to serve in 1/2 cup portions.  
2. The Mofongo does not last due to it becomes dried out and too firm.  Use the Mofongo as soon as you make it.
3. I do not like the thought of eating Pork rinds.  (Pork rinds were used in most of the recipes I looked at.)  And so, I replaced Pork rinds with another crispy, tasty food-French fried onions.
4. This recipe has lots of calories to it due to deep frying the Plantains, added fat, and Crispy French fried onions.  If you would like less fat, try to bake your Plantains coated with Olive oil in a 400 F oven.  I haven't tried this yet, but it should work well.  

Here's to trying out new traditional dishes, enjoying them, and then making the recipe your own.

Bon Appetite!

Cynthia Bergsbaken

April 6, 2022

 

*All original content is copyrighted by Cynthia Bergsbaken, Perceptive Blogger & Reiki in the Prairie LLC.
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April 11, 2020
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