Although mofongo may not seem like much, it is delicious. Green plantains that have been mashed with garlic, olive oil, and bacon or pork rinds. Mofongo can be packed with garlic shrimp, carne frita, or octopus salad and is best served with chicken or fish broth. Additionally, it can be rolled into little balls and added to soups or eaten straight from a mortar. One of my many guilty pleasures is this!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 2 |
| Yield: | 2 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 cups canola oil for frying
- 3 cloves garlic, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ⅛ cup crushed fried pork skins
- 2 green plantains, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat canola oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mash the garlic with the olive oil in a mortar and pestle. Combine garlic mixture with the pork rinds in a large bowl; set aside.
- Fry the plantain chunks until golden and crispy, but not brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer the fried plantains into the bowl with the garlic mixture. Toss to coat. Mash the coated plantains with the mortar and pestle until smooth. Season with salt. Roll the plantain mixture into two large balls or several small balls before serving.
- We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
- Serve this with
- .
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 726 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 59 g |
| Cholesterol | 5 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 187 mg |
| Sugars | 27 g |
| Fat | 56 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I love this dish, served with traditional rice and beans. I add some Adobo for a little kick.
I substituted the oil to an oil of my preference which made no change to the taste of the end product.
Delicious
Didn’t ave porkrinds so used bacon. Would not keep its ball shape.
Absolutely delicious and very flavorful.
Easy and delicious! Had all the ingredients for the recipe and some left over Puerto Rican red beans I made so decided to combine the two. Traditional I would serve with stewed shrimp but was also great with the beans. Added a pinch of salt to the motar making it easier to crush the garlic, added a few plantains at a time as I mashed with the pork rinds . The salt from the rinds is more than enough to season the dish. Will make over and over again!!
I suggest you find the correct type of green plantains. They need to actually be more like green bananas than the sweet plantains you know. When you are done, you can put the mortar upside down in the oven at low heat until the food becomes loose from the mortar. Another thing that can be done if you are not liking the slight spice or sting of garlic, is to put the whole cloves to cook in a small amount of oil for a little bit. After that you can crush it in the mortar and pestle. I will cook it again and continue to modifying it as I go. If I find the perfect mix I will share it here.
Loved this! It was like a trip back to the DR.
The plantains should be green unripe.
Delicious! I made it with chicken stew.
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a wooden spoon. That is what I used and it did the trick. However, I also used the minced garlic that comes in a jar rather than the cloves. That helps ease the labor process if you don’t have a mortar and pestle as well. AWESOME
The recipe was very easy to follow. It came out very tasty and tasted like home, Puerto Rico.
Used a food processor instead and it was amazingly great! Super easy too.
This is delicious but rather labor intensive. I don’t know what sort of mortar & pestle the author of this recipe has, but I found the mashing of the garlic and plaintains difficult in my modestly-sized marble one. It definitely took more than 15 minutes! Does she have a LARGE authentic Puerto Rican wooden one (as seen on Man vs. Food)? The result, however, was wonderful (I ended up using my “boat motor” to puree it). I made this as my sister’s b’day dinner (her request) along with “Camarones al Aijillo.” Would not make again due to the difficuly of preparation, but thanks for sharing just the same.
Very good!!! I couldn’t find the pork rinds so I crisped 3 bacon strips and ground them up. I also put about 1 tsp of butter in the mix together with the olive oil. YUMMMYYYYY