Yuca frita con chicharrón
Fried cassava with pork crackling
Yuca frita con chicharrón: fried cassava with crisp pork bites, El Salvador style
Every Salvadoran town has a corner where yuca frita is sold from a big pan, usually by the market or the parish church on Sunday evenings: boiled sweet cassava fried until crackly, topped with crisp chunks of pork chicharrón, curtido and a thin tomato salsa. The pork is belly or shoulder simmered in salted water until the water is gone and it fries in its own fat. Use sweet cassava; bitter varieties need special processing. The classic mistake is frying raw cassava, which stays hard in the middle; it must be boiled until tender first. Chef's tip: let the boiled cassava cool and dry for 15 minutes before frying, and the outside will shatter like a good chip.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ lb sweet cassava (yuca)peeled, woody core removed, in batons
- 2 tsp saltdivided
- 3 ¼ cups vegetable oilfor frying
For the chicharrón
- 1 ⅓ lb pork belly or shoulderin 3 cm cubes
- 2 cups water
For the tomato salsa
- 3 tomatoeschopped
- ½ onionchopped
- ½ green pepperchopped
- ½ cup water
To serve
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 1 ⅓ lb pork belly or shoulder in a heavy pan with 2 cups water and 1 tsp of 1 tsp salt. Simmer uncovered until the water has evaporated, then keep cooking in the rendered fat, stirring, until the cubes are browned and crisp all over and reach 160°F inside.
45 minStep 2: Meanwhile boil 2 ¼ lb sweet cassava (yuca) in salted water until tender and splitting.
20 minStep 3: Drain the cassava, remove any fibres and spread it out to dry and cool.
Step 4: Simmer 3 tomatoes, ½ onion, ½ green pepper and ½ cup water until soft, then blend to a thin sauce with a pinch of ½ tsp salt.
10 minStep 5: Heat 3 ¼ cups vegetable oil in a deep pan to 350°F and fry the cassava in batches until golden and crisp. Drain and sprinkle with the rest of ½ tsp salt.
10 minStep 6: Pile the cassava on plates, top with chicharrón and 10 ½ oz curtido (Salvadoran pickled cabbage) and spoon over the tomato salsa.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 720 kcal
- Protein
- 25 g
- Carbs
- 68 g
- Fat
- 38 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does yuca frita con chicharrón take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- 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 tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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