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Nuegados
Nuegados de yuca: Salvadoran cassava fritters in warm panela syrup
On Holy Week and at the patron-saint fairs of towns like Izalco and Suchitoto, women fry nuegados in big pans and ladle hot panela syrup over them to order. The fritters are made from mashed sweet cassava and egg, crisp outside and soft and stretchy inside, and the syrup is scented with cinnamon and cloves. Use sweet cassava, the kind sold fresh or frozen in shops; bitter varieties are not for home cooking. The most common mistake is a wet mash, which drinks up oil and falls apart; dry the cooked cassava well before mashing. Chef's tip: wet your hands or the spoon before shaping each fritter so the sticky dough drops cleanly into the oil.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb sweet cassava (yuca)peeled, woody core removed, in chunks
- 2 eggsbeaten
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 ¼ cups vegetable oilfor frying
For the syrup
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Boil 1 ½ lb sweet cassava (yuca) in salted water until a knife slides in with no resistance and the chunks start to split.
20 minStep 2: Drain well, pick out any fibres and return to the dry pan over a low heat for 2 minutes to steam off moisture. Mash until smooth and cool for 5 minutes.
7 minStep 4: Simmer 9 oz panela, 1 ¼ cups water, 1 cinnamon stick and 3 cloves until syrupy and slightly thickened. Keep warm.
8 minStep 5: Heat 3 ¼ cups vegetable oil in a deep pan to 350°F. Drop in heaped tablespoons of dough, a few at a time, and fry, turning, until puffed, deep golden and crisp.
12 minStep 6: Drain on paper and serve hot, drenched in the warm syrup.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 390 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does nuegados take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of eggs?
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water per egg, left for 5 minutes (baking only; vegan).
- What can I use instead of cinnamon stick?
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon per stick.
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