When my husband and I went to Puerto Rico on our honey moon several years ago, we both fell in love with the dish that every local seemed to love, Mofongo.
When I grow weary of making the same old things all the time, I like to draw inspiration from my travels, from what we eat when we're out, and from other friends and their recipes. So as I was sitting here, STARVING, feeling my sweet little daughter squirm around in my belly, I decided to travel back to Puerto Rico (in my head of course), and the amazing flavors and textures that make up mofongo.
I made it a couple of times before for my family, A LONG TIME AGO, and I remembered it not being THAT hard... I was super pumped to put together this delicious island meal for my crew, bringing back memories of our amazing getaway.
Guess what? It was a success!! A HUGE success. We all loved it, even my little guys. I hope you'll like it too!
Major loved it so much, in fact, that he decided to sing a song about it. I took this video the first time he ate it, and I decided to share it again. Yeah, it's old, but I think it's cute as hell. And hey, I bet you'll be singing too, once you make this Puerto Rican classic in your very own home.
You'll sing for this Puerto Rican classic.
- a tbsp or so of olive oil
- 3 green plantains, peeled and chopped in 1/2" slices
- Vegetable or chicken stock. (1 cup or so)
- 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 tbsp of bacon fat, or 3 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
- More olive oil
- 3/4 lb. large or jumbo cleaned, de-veined, de-tailed shrimp
- 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large bunch of washed cilantro
- salt & pepper
- crushed red pepper (as much or as little as you want)
- In a skillet, warm up some olive oil (OR BACON FAT), and toss in the garlic & onions. Cook until translucent.
- Add in the cooked/crushed bacon now.
- Cook on low to deepen the flavors.
- Remove the veggies from the pan, and add in some more oil or bacon fat.
- Turn heat up to med-high, and add in the plantain pieces, and let them get browned on one side, then the other, before turning the heat down. Check at around 5 minutes, and add a little of the stock. Stir. Cover. Keep doing this. It's kind of like risotto here. Salt & pepper to taste.
- Once the plantains are nice and super tender, like SUPER tender, pour them into the bowl where you have the veggies/bacon, and using a potato masher, mash the plantains into a consistency like mashed potatoes.
- To serve, scoop some of the mofongo out onto a plate and form into a round shape. You can also use a small bowl to get the mold right.
- Put some olive oil into a sauce/stock pot and get it warm. Add your onions, garlic and salt. Cook until translucent.
- Add the can of tomatoes. Stir.
- Stir in 1/2 of the bunch of cilantro and turn the sauce down to med-low, stirring occasionally.
- In about 10 minutes, add the crushed red pepper, and some more salt/pepper.
- TASTE ALONG THE WAY. The sauce should be sweet and acidic, with a slight heat.
- After about 40 or so minutes, add in the rest of the cilantro. Keep stirring.
- When you're about ready to serve, add in the shrimp, and set your timer for 7 minutes. Stir the shrimp into the sauce. Once the timer goes off, your shrimp should be cooked through. They'll look opaque.
- If your sauce is too thick, just add some of the veggie/chicken stock to thin it out.
- To serve, spoon out the amount of shrimp desired and place on top of your mofongo, and then top with the sauce.
- Fin!
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