Mofongo
Mofongo
Mofongo is a popular Puerto Rican dish consisting of fried mashed plantains with bacon, garlic, and chicharons. There are numerous versions of this dish in Puerto Rico as well as the rest of the Caribbean. This version has the mofongo with a creole shrimp sauce. So shrimp and 2 types of pork. I’m sold. Just a heads up: this recipe isn’t for beginners. There are a lot of steps to making mofongo. It’s actually a huge pain in the ass. It creates a lot of dishes. But it is absolutely worth the time once once you try it. Patience.The shrimp sauce is fairly simple. Sauté the shrimp. Sauté the vegetables. Cook down the tomatoes. Add in chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat, then add the shrimp back in. Cook the bacon. Drain the grease, then add in olive oil and garlic. Cook for another minute, then set aside.When choosing plantains, you want to use unripened ones. They are more starchy and are closer to a potato in flavor and texture. Ripened plantains will be too sweet and taste closer to bananas. They will need to be fried in vegetable oil for 4 minutes a side until crispy. Drain the grease on paper towel and season with creole seasoning.To assemble, mash a little bit of the bacon, garlic, oil, and chicharon together in a mortar. Then add a couple of the plants. Start smashing them with the bacon mix. Slowly start incorporating layers of the plantains, garlic bacon, and chicharon; smashing them into oblivion. Press the mofongo to the mortar to mold it to shape. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can add the ingredients to a food processor and pulse it a few times. Then you can press it into a small bowl to get the dome shape. You can make 1 large one like I did or 2 smaller ones if eating as a side dish. Place a large ladle of the shrimp sauce without any shrimp in the center of a plate. Flip the mofongo over on top of the sauce. Remove the mortar. Place a couple of the shrimp on top of the mofongo. Ladle the rest of the shrimp sauce around the mofongo. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- mortar and pestle or food processor
Ingredients
Shrimp Sauce
- 1/2 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1/2 tsp creole seasoning
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 large white onion diced
- 1/2 cup green and red bell pepper diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 small tomatoes diced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
Mofongo
- 4 slices bacon diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 plantains unripened
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 tsp creole seasoning
- 1/4 cup chicharon
Garnish
- parsley chopped
Instructions
Shrimp Sauce
- Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the shrimp. Season with creole seasoning. Sauté for 2 minutes a side. Remove from the pan.
- Add in the other tbsp of olive oil. Sauté the onions, bell peppers, and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes, cumin, and smoked paprika. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Take off the heat. Stir in the shrimp. Set aside.
Mofongo
- Sauté the bacon in a small skillet until crispy. Drain the grease.
- Pour in 2 tbsp of olive oil and the garlic. Cook for 1 more minute and set aside.
- Heat up 1/2” of vegetable oil in a pot over medium high heat. Fry the plantains in batches; 4 minutes a side.
- Drain the grease on paper towel. Season with creole seasoning.
- Take a 1/4 of the bacon and garlic and 1/4 of the chicharon and place in the bottom of a mortar.
- Give them a few smashes.
- Toss in a few of the fried plantains. Mash them with the bacon mix. Start adding in layers of the fried plantains, garlic bacon, and chicharon until they are all mashed together.
- Press the mofongo tight into the mortar to mold it’s shape. Alternatively, if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor, then mold into a dome shape in a small bowl.
- Place a large scoop of the shrimp sauce in the center of a plate.
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