Spicy Plantain Mofongo

 Have you heard of Mofongo?  I had no idea this dish existed until I saw an episode of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. He went a little nuts eating this mashed plantain dish.  So when I wanted to make something tropical and exotic with some plantains I had to try this dish out.  You really can customize this dish to your taste but the dominate flavors are plantain, bacon or bacon crackling, garlic and some broth or oil. I decided to spice it up.. of course.  It was fun to try mofongo..almost as fun as it was to say it. :)

Ingredients to prep the plantains for cooking:
4-5 large green plantains
1 tsp of turmeric
juice of 1 lime
2-3 cups of water
1 tsp of salt

 Directions to prep the plantains for cooking:

First rinse your plantain skin.  Then take a small knife and score the the plantain while following the ridges around the plantain. You must score through the tough skin but not cut the plantain itself.  Then put your thumb inside and pry the skin off.  It may take a little practice, but it will become easier.  Then slice the plantains into 1/4 inch slices and place in a bowl with the water, lime juice, salt and turmeric.  Allow to sit in the water for 10-15 minutes and then drain the liquid out of the bowl. 

Raw Plantain

Baked Plantain

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.  Place plantains on a oiled baking sheet and pour a little more oil over the plantains to coat both sides.  Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Ingredients:
4-5 large plantains
5-6 slices of bacon diced or store bought pork rind or cracklings
2 serrano chilies diced
1 medium onion diced
1 bell pepper diced
red chilies flakes to taste
1 Tbs of grated fresh ginger
chicken broth as needed to make mash
olive oil as needed to make mash

lime juice to taste

salt to taste

Directions:

Traditionally Mofongo is mashed in a large mortar and pestle looking device.  I decided to use my food processor to mash it. Do not make it into a puree... keep some texture)

I decided to use crisp some bacon. You can also use prepared pork crackling or pork rinds.  Remove the bacon and use 2Tbs of the bacon drippings to fry up onion, green chiles, garlic, red chili flakes and bell peppers.

Add your plantains and some broth. Mix well and add the bacon back into the pan and mash all ingredients together well. I don't think I mashed my enough from what I read.  Salt as needed. Enjoy.

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