Fried Yucca with Garlic Sauce

I had never tried Caribbean cooking before, but when I came across this recipe, I thought it was easy to try and sounded great in taste too. Now that I made it, I can say, it tastes fantastic! The picture doesn't convey much, but believe me its an awesome dish!

This recipe is from 'Cooking the Cuban Way' by Alison Behnke and Victor Manuel Valens. The description of the dish goes like this : Fried Yucca, smothered in a zesty garlic sauce, makes a perfect side dish for roast pork. I did not serve it with roast pork, but thought this made an excellent side dish even with our Indian simple Rasam and Rice or great as a snack, just by itself. The three of us just ate most of it as a snack before the rest of the lunch was ready..

The flavours of this dish are just great with the orange juice, garlic, onions and the starchiness of the yucca. I altered only some of the quantities of the ingredients, but followed the rest as it is. Simple and delish!

Ingredients

For the Garlic Sauce:

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tsp. salt or lesser

1/2 cup sour orange juice

1 big white onion, very thinly sliced

For Fried Yucca:

1 lb. yucca

Salt to taste

3 tsp. olive oil.

Method

- To make the mojo, with a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic cloves and salt into a thick paste. In a mixing bowl, combine garlic paste, orange juice and onion slices. Mix well and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

- While mojo sits, peel the yucca and cut into 2 inch sticks. Place in a saucepan with salt and just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and cook till yucca is tender. Remove the pan from heat and drain any remaining water.

- In another saucepan, combine the mojo and oil. Cook over medium high heat until bubbling. Add the yucca pieces into this and toss lightly and saute over medium heat until barely browned.

- Serve hot.

Note : The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup oil, but I used less. Also, I would love to make this more browner the next time.

This post is my contribution to Monthly Mingle- Caribbean Cooking hosted by the wonderful Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey.

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