Recipe: deep-fried yuca from Peru
Katinka Lansink Dodero inherited her love of Peruvian cuisine from her parents. In Mi casa Peru, she not only shares wonderful stories about this magical cuisine, but also shares fantastic recipes for colourful comfort food and cocktails that are easy to prepare with readily available ingredients. For example, try this deep-fried yuca as an alternative to classic Dutch fries.
Katinka: “This is the tastier variation on fries in our home. Yuca, also known as cassava, manioc or tapioca, comes from the jungle of Peru and is a root vegetable. After potatoes, it is the most widely eaten vegetable in the world. Peru is the land of tubers. The potato, for example, originated in Peru and was brought to Europe by the Spanish conquistadors. Imagine if we didn’t know potatoes… our daily menu would look very different! There are more than 3,500 potato varieties, and just outside Lima there is even a potato research institute where a sample of every potato variety is preserved. Commonly used potatoes include papa amarilla (the yellow potato), chuño (a freeze-dried potato) and papas secas (dried potatoes). Other commonly used tubers include yuca, camote (sweet potato), purple potato (truffle potato), ulluco, yacón, mashua and oca. Yuca is incredibly versatile: it is eaten boiled, deep-fried and baked as a garnish with ceviches, in desserts, as a bitterball, and also as fries with one of the many delicious salsas.”
How to make deep-fried yuca
- The day before you plan to eat the yuca: peel the yuca and cut it into four pieces. Boil the yuca in plenty of water for about 20 minutes. Drain and leave it in the refrigerator overnight; this makes the outside of the yuca extra crispy. And that’s despite the fact that it absorbs much less oil than regular fries.
- Remove the fibres from the centre and cut the yuca into long fries.
- Heat peanut oil in a frying pan and deep-fry the fries at 180 °C until golden brown.
- After frying, drain them on a sheet of kitchen paper and sprinkle with some Maldon salt.
Title: Mi casa Peru
Author: Katinka Lansink Dodero
Price: €25
Publisher: Luitingh-Sijthoff
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