Yuca con Mojo Clásico
(yoo-kah kohn mo-ho klah-see-koh)
Viandas & Sides (The Supporting Cast)
Potatoes are fine, but in Cuba, yuca is king. It is a dense, earthy root that demands respect, and it isn't truly alive until baptized in Mojo Criollo—a loud, punchy, garlic-heavy sauce that seeps into every crack. The smell of sizzling garlic hitting sour orange is a direct ticket back to the homeland. For a weeknight kitchen in the States, there are two golden grandmother secrets you need: skip the wax-covered fresh yuca and buy it frozen, and always "scare" the boiling root with ice water. It is a ruthless thermal shock that guarantees a meltingly tender interior without the whole thing disintegrating into mush.
Before you start
Blend the citrus to recreate the sour orange.
Mixing equal parts sweet orange and lime juice perfectly mimics the complex, sharp acidity of a true Cuban naranja agria.
Ingredients
- frozen yuca chunks1 1/2 lb
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- ice water1 cup
- garlic8 large
- coarse kosher salt1/2 tsp
- extra-virgin olive oil1/3 cup
- red onion1 small
- sweet orange juice1/4 cup
- lime juice1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Submerge the frozen yuca chunks in a large pot with two inches of cold water and bring to a rapid boil.
Do not bother thawing them first; the freezer aisle does the heavy lifting here.
- 02
After fifteen minutes, when the yuca begins to swell and crack, violently shock the boiling pot with the cup of ice water.
This old-school trick, 'asustar la yuca', stops the exterior from turning to mush while the dense core finishes softening. Add the tablespoon of kosher salt only after scaring the yuca to avoid toughening the starch.
- 03
Return the water to a gentle simmer and cook until a fork pierces the root with zero resistance, about twenty more minutes.
You are looking for a translucent, meltingly soft texture akin to a perfectly boiled potato.
- 04
While the yuca simmers, pound the garlic cloves and coarse salt in a mortar and pestle until they form a smooth, wet paste.
The coarse salt acts as a crucial abrasive, crushing the cell walls to release maximum pungency while keeping the cloves from flying out of the bowl.
- 05
Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat, gently sweating the red onions for two minutes before stirring in the garlic paste.
Stir constantly for sixty seconds. Do not let the garlic brown, or the whole operation turns bitter.
- 06
Remove the skillet entirely from the heat and carefully pour in the sweet orange and lime juices.
The violent hiss and sizzle—the 'borboteo'—takes the raw bite out of the garlic while preserving the bright acidity of the citrus. Let it rest in the warm pan.
- 07
Drain the hot yuca, split each chunk with a fork, and pull out the tough, stringy core running down the center.
Move fast. Transfer the cleaned, steaming yuca to a platter and drown it in the warm mojo immediately so the starchy root absorbs every drop.
Notes
Never throw away cold leftover yuca.
Slicing the chilled, mojo-soaked root into thick batons and shallow-frying them the next day creates the ultimate crispy yuca fry.
From Cook Cuban in America.