AI-generated image
Sonso de yuca
Grilled cassava and cheese sticks
Sonso de yuca: cassava and cheese dough grilled on sticks, from Santa Cruz
At Sunday churrascos and roadside grills around Santa Cruz de la Sierra, sonso is wrapped round thick wooden sticks and turned slowly over embers until blistered and smoky, then eaten hot with coffee or alongside grilled meat. The dough is simply mashed cassava worked with cheese, butter and a little milk, so it is chewy, stretchy and salty-sweet. Bolivian lowland cheese is usually set with animal rennet; a vegetarian mozzarella and Cheddar mix works well. Always use sweet cassava, the kind sold in supermarkets. The common mistake is mashing the cassava cold, which gives a crumbly dough that falls off the stick. Chef's tip: if you have no grill, press the dough into a buttered dish and bake it as sonso al horno.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ lb sweet cassava (yuca)peeled, woody core removed, cut into chunks
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ¾ oz buttersoft, plus extra for greasing
- ¼ cup milkwarm
- 9 oz mozzarella and mature Cheddar, mixedgrated; vegetarian rennet if needed
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 2 ¼ lb sweet cassava (yuca) in a pan, cover with cold water, add 1 tsp salt and boil until very soft and starting to split, about 25 minutes.
25 minStep 3: Work in 9 oz mozzarella and mature Cheddar, mixed with your hands until evenly mixed into a stretchy dough.
3 minStep 4: Divide into 6 and squeeze each portion round a thick wooden skewer or clean stick soaked in water, making a sausage about 3 cm thick.
7 minStep 5: Grill over medium coals or under a hot grill, turning often, until golden and blistered all over and the cheese starts to ooze, about 12 minutes. For the baked version, press the dough into a buttered dish and bake at 400°F for 25 minutes until golden.
12 minStep 6: Serve hot, straight off the stick.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 390 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sonso de yuca take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 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 butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Taiwanese grilled corn
At Raohe and Shilin night markets the grilled-corn stalls are easy to find: look for the queue and the smoky, sweet smell. Cobs are par-cooked, then turned slowly over charcoal while the cook brushes them with a dark glaze of sacha sauce, thick soy paste, garlic and chilli, layer after layer, until the kernels are sticky, slightly charred and deeply savoury. It is eaten hot from a paper sleeve while walking the market. Sacha (shacha) sauce, a Taiwanese barbecue paste, usually contains dried fish and shrimp; vegetarian sacha is sold in Asian shops. Contains soy, wheat and fish. Chef's tip: brush thin coats and turn often; one thick coat burns before the corn chars.
Taiwanese
Masala khakhraCrisp roasted wheat crackers
Khakhra are thin chapaties roasted slowly on a griddle until they turn crisp, like a cracker. This masala version adds gram flour, fresh fenugreek, turmeric and chilli to the wheat dough. They are a light Gujarati breakfast or tea-time snack, and lovely with pickle, chutney or a smear of butter. You can also make them in a roti maker.
Indian
MathiaMoong and urad dal wafers
Mathia are thin, crisp, slightly sweet and peppery wafers made from mathia flour, a mix of ground husked moong and urad dal. They are a classic Gujarati Diwali snack. The dough is pounded until pale, rolled very thin between plastic sheets and fried one at a time. They are fragile, so store them gently. To make mathia flour, finely grind 4 parts husked green gram lentils with 1 part husked black gram lentils.