MOFONGO CAKES / PATTIES (MOFONGUITOS?) + GREEN MOJO
I bought green plantains (almost a month ago!) with a plan for tostones/patacones. Finally had a peaceful day and wanted to use them for something I had not made before, and mofongo it was.
I looked up recipes, and they all seemed very consistent – fry the plantains (like step 1 of tostones), mash garlic, add plantains and mash them, adding broth as necessary to moisten, plus crushed pork rinds or similar.
I decided to start the way I usually do for tostones – steaming the plantains instead of frying them. Then I cut them into slices, pan-fried to get some texture, and then went to the mashing step. It took more arm strength than I had today, so I moved it to the mini food processor to help me along, and then went back to mashing. Instead of chicharron, I minced and crisped half a rasher of bacon.
The mixture was fantastic in flavor, but I wanted a bit more texture, so I formed it into 4 large cakes / patties (from 2 plantains) and pan-fried them to crisp up the outside a bit.
Ok, these were DYNAMITE! I don’t know why I’ve never made this before. I’ll definitely be making it again! Reading up a bit more, looks like there are variations across the Caribbean from Cuban Fufu de Platano to Dominican Mangu, so lots of texture and flavor variations to try!
I had a Green Mojo from a Cuban restaurant earlier in the week that was on my mind, so I looked through some recipes and winged it – cilantro, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, cumin, oil, vinegar. It was lovely with the salmon that was part of dinner, but unnecessary with the Mofongo because the garlic and bacon were so intensely flavorful already.
