Yuca Frita with Cilantro Sauce
Thick cassava fries, crisp and golden outside and fluffy inside, with a creamy cilantro dipping sauce.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
Yuca frita is the side that steals the show at Latin restaurants and parties: thick sticks of cassava with a crackly golden outside and a fluffy, almost creamy inside. They are sturdier and more filling than potato fries, and a cool, tangy cilantro sauce for dipping makes them hard to share.
The secret is boiling the yuca before frying it. The Thermomix® TM7™ blends the cilantro sauce first, then cooks the yuca in the simmering basket until tender. After a few minutes to steam-dry, you cut it into sticks and fry it in a pot on the stove until crisp.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Yuca Frita with Cilantro Sauce
Makes: About 30 sticks
- Prep15 min
- Cook45 min
- Total1 h
- Serves6
Ingredients
For the cilantro sauce
For the yuca
Instructions
- Place the garlic and jalapeño in the mixing bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 7. Add the cilantro, chop 5 sec/speed 7 and scrape down the sides.
- Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice and salt and blend 15 sec/speed 5, until creamy and pale green. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and refrigerate, then rinse the mixing bowl.
- Place the water and salt in the mixing bowl, insert the simmering basket, add the yuca and cook 25 min/100°C (212°F)/speed 1, until a knife slides in easily but the pieces still hold their shape.
- Lift out the simmering basket with the spatula hook and let the yuca steam-dry for 10 minutes. Cut each piece lengthwise into sticks about 2 cm (3/4 in) thick and remove the woody string from the center.
- Heat 5 cm (2 in) of oil in a deep pot on the stove to 180°C (360°F). Fry the yuca in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, until golden and crisp.
- Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with coarse salt and serve hot with the cilantro sauce.
Tips
- Make ahead: boil and cut the yuca up to 2 days before and keep it covered in the fridge. Cold, dry yuca fries up even crisper.
- Oven option: toss the boiled sticks with 30 g (2 tbsp) of oil and bake them on a baking sheet at 220°C (425°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, turning once.
- No sour cream? Use plain Greek yogurt or Mexican crema.
- The cilantro sauce keeps 4 days in the fridge and is delicious on tacos, grilled chicken and tostones.
