Perfect as a side dish and main course, African Mofongo is everyone’s first choice. Made with plantains and pork rinds, it is finger-licking good if cooked with an appropriate amount of spices and consistency. In this article, we will tell you the easiest and quickest mofongo recipe, paired with Dingolay scotch bonnet hot sauces for an exquisite taste.
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Where Did Mofongo Originate
Mofongo is one of the most famous Puerto Rican dishes, but there are many questions as to where did mofongo originate? You can trace its roots back to Africa and Africans introduced Mofongo Puerto Rico. The dish’s name originated from the Kokongo word “mfwenge-mfwenge”, which later settled down as mofongo. Africans used to boil or fry starchy fruits and vegetables and later transform them into something regal by adding spices and different meats. Similarly, the African Mofongo recipe is a product of their experimentation.
What is Mofongo?
The active ingredient in Mofongo is Plantain. Plantains’ heavy, thick, and starchy texture makes them perfect to be mashed and formed into balls or semi-doom shapes. Plantains are usually mistaken to be unripe bananas. Although they belong to the same family, they are different. They cannot be consumed raw and taste more like tomatoes than bananas. Plantains are green, with thicker skin that is difficult to peel and starchy in nature. They were found in Southeast Asia, but now they can be grown in tropical areas and are perfect for a variety of dishes.
Initially, to make the mofongo recipe easy, the plantains were boiled in chicken or veal stock and then mashed into a fine paste to form smaller balls, center filled with pork, chicken, or bacon. Later the recipe was improvised, and people started frying plantains and then mashed them with pork or bacon chunks and shaped them into small balls.
In this article, you will find the traditional recipe of mofongo puerto rico and the side dishes that can be paired with it.
How to Make Mofongo at Home?
Mofongo Ingredients:
To make the tastiest and quickest Mofongo, you will need:
- Plantain: 4
- Pork rinds or crackling: 6 ounces or ¼ cup
- Cooking Oil: to fry
- Garlic Paste: 1Tbsp
- Parsley: chopped (to garnish)
Instructions of Making Mofongo:
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 10 minutes |
| Servings | 4 |
| Tidbits: |
| It is recommended to mash fried plantain chunks in a pestle or a mortar for a refined texture and taste. You can also use a regular masher if the other two are not available. |
Take the green and unripe plantains, peel, and cut them into chunks. Preheat the oil to 350 degrees and start frying the plantain chunks. They shall turn golden brown in approximately 5 minutes. Then dish them out on tissue paper or a paper towel. Let the tissue paper absorb the excess oil for two to three minutes.
Take a bowl, and add garlic paste and fried plantains. With the help of a masher, turn the plantains into a fine paste. Add the pork rinds or crackling in the paste and mash well for about four to five minutes. Take another small bowl, tightly secure the paste in it with the help of a spoon and overturn the bowl on a plate and garnish it with finely chopped parsley. You can shape Mofongo into smaller balls or semi-dooms, according to your preference.
Serve it with shrimp or plain boiled rice and gravy. When it is center filled with seafood, chicken or bacon, it is usually served with gravy for nutritious reasons. We recommend you to pair it with Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauces for an experience that will make you feel out of this world. Moreover, their sweet and fiery flavor balances and complements Mofongo’s taste and saves you tons of time from the cooking of sauce or gravy that should turn out to be perfect with spices and consistency for the Mofongo Puerto Rico. Furthermore, it is usually served with garlic sauce, the recipe of which is given below.
Garlic Sauce for Mofongo
Mofongo is meant to be a little juicy, it should not be dry. Still, to balance the flavor it is served with garlic sauce.
Ingredients of Garlic Sauce:
To make this easy garlic sauce, you will need:
- Garlic cloves: 2
- Oil: 1/3 cup
- Green onion: 1
- Lemon juice/zest: 1Tbsp
- Cumin seeds: ½ tsp
- Red Chili Flakes: ½ tsp
- Salt: to taste
Instructions:
This sauce is one of the easiest to make. Add all the mentioned ingredients to a shaker and blend it into a fine sauce. Moreover, if necessary, add sip-by-sip water to have the desired consistency.
What to Serve with Mofongo?
Mofongo is rich in nutrition and can be served with various side dishes that increase its health benefits and shrimp are everyone’s first choice.
Shrimps with Gravy
Mofongo tastes best with shrimp.
Ingredients:
To make Shrimps with gravy, you will need:
- Tiger Shrimp: 4
- Unsalted Butter: 2 Tbsp
- Olive oil or Canola Oil: 3 Tbsp
- Garlic Paste: 2 Tbsp
- White wine: ½ cup
- Lemon Juice: 2 Tbsp
- Salt and Black Pepper Powder: to taste
- Fresh cut parsley: to garnish
Instructions:
Rinse and devein the shrimps and place them in a strainer to drain the excess water.
In a non-stick pan, add the butter and oil. Let the butter melt, then add the finely chopped garlic cloves or paste. Let them simmer until pinkish golden or fragrant. Then add the shrimp and cook until they turn pink or transparent. Meanwhile, keep changing its sides every minute, so they may cook properly and do not burn. As the shrimps start to turn pinkish golden, add wine and lemon juice and let the sauce thicken. Add salt, and black pepper powder to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil and turn off the flame.
Serve these shrimp with mofongo and bring a breath of fresh air to your dining table.
Storage Options for African Mofongo:
You can refrigerate or freeze mofongo, but the juices in it may dry out when you warm it again. In order to keep its consistency intact, add a little water to the sides of the pan in which you are warming it and let it heat up in the steam. You can also add chicken broth as required to enhance the taste as well as keep it moisturized.
Dingolay Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauces
It is an effort-requiring task to cook the Mofongo in perfect consistency. To ease the cook’s job and provide you with excellent taste, you can combine the mofongo with Dingolay scotch bonnet hot sauces. These sauces are available in three different flavors that help you to skip the tiring part of cooking a perfect sauce to have with Mofongo.
Prepared with ripened Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Peppers, these hot sauces are available in three flavors, Original Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce, and Mango and Pineapple Dingolay Hot Sauce. The selective spices and herbs, brown sugar, garlic, carrots, oil, and tropical fruits, bring sweet and fiery taste that you can never find in regular hot sauces.