- October 2, 2022
Some dishes are favorites during the Christmas season or Thanksgiving Day. Still, there is always one that is the favorite and is a traditional dish for Puerto Ricans, the MOFONGO.
The mofongo can be a traditional complement since it is one of the most requested. On the other hand, it can be the night star and ordered as a main dish, stuffed with chicken, meat, seafood, or vegetarian alternatives.
The mofongo is made with fried green plantains that, after frying, are mashed in a wooden mortar with crunchy pork skin in small pieces, garlic, and oil. It can be served in little bits as an appetizer and a side dish in the form of a half-sphere.
When ordered, the main dish can be stuffed with the companion of your choice. Also, mofongo lovers look for ways to exalt its flavor by creating alternatives such as bifongo, trifongo, cassava, or breadfruit mofongo.
On Thanksgiving Day turkey is the main ingredient on every table. In Puerto Rico, we stuff the turkey with mofongo, and we call this combination pavochon.
We have always said it; coming to Puerto Rico and not trying a mofongo is like not having visited the island.
Therefore, here we leave you the recipe for how to make traditional mofongo.
Mofongo
Ingredients:
- 4 green plantains
- 1 pound of crispy pork skin - Eliminate the pork skin if you opt for a vegetarian mofongo.
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 teaspoons of olive oil
- 2 cups of oil for frying
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 liter of water
- Prepare a container with 1 teaspoon of salt and one liter of water.
- Peel the plantains and cut them into slices no wider than 1 ½ inch. Soak them for 10 to 15 minutes in salted water.
- While the plantains are soaking, heat a pan with oil.
- Drain the slices on top of a paper towel before adding them to the hot pan with oil.
- Fry over medium heat until lightly golden. It would be best to flip on halfway through to do both sides. To check if they are cooked, prick them with a fork; if the fork does not go through easily, you need to fry the plantains longer.
- Remove the plantains from the oil and mash them in a wooden mortar, adding a little of the crushed garlic, pieces of pork skin as you mash, and olive oil.
- When all the plantains are mashed, pour the mofongo into a container to give it its shape. You can use wooden mortar to provide the form.
- Ready to eat!
You can fill your mofongo with chicken with garlic, pork fried pieces, shrimp, lobster, companion of your choice.
Dreams Hotel Miramar and Aqua by Dreams offer a gastronomic experience of preparing your mofongo. Then, after preparation, you can eat it.
This experience is offered depending on availability and the number of people in the group.
Dreams Hotel Miramar is near the Convention Center and District T-Mobile.
Aqua by Dreams is a Beachfront hotel 20 minutes from San Juan, with a beautiful view of Old San Juan.
Reserve now: +1787-688-5818
www.dreamsmiramar.com
www.aquabydreams.com
