yucca
This unpleasant looking root is a yucca. Well, not really -- it's a manioc, but everyone calls it yucca, despite yucca actually being something that's not only completely different, but also inedible.
At any rate, this weekend I think I'm going to try to fry up a few of these suckers ala Crisp & Juicy. But the internet is oddly silent on how to go about this. Everyone seems to agree that I should peel it, but I could pretty well figure that out on my own. There's a fibrous inner core that some sites say to remove and about which others say nothing; some folks say to boil it before frying, others seem to think you can plop it right in the oil.
In fact, the only clear information I can find is Google's persistent suggestion that I "oven fry" it. I won't dignify that with a response.
So the pictured vegetable is an experimental root. I'll let you know how it goes.
Comments
Remove core, thinly slice, parboil, fry in very very hot vegetable oil, season, and serve.
Awesome. Thanks, Kanishka.
one other question for ya: the internet suggests 375ish oil. That sound about right to you?
Core it if you like, but then you end up with less yucca. Some core and some don't. Slice the yucca in half and see how fibrous the center is. I usually peel them and cut them into fries. I shallow fry them and serve them with mojo. Anything you can do with a potato you can do with a yucca. Sometimes I'll peel the yucca and cut them into medallions to fry. But really, look for a bottle of Goya mojo in your spanish foods aisle and you'll be glad you did.
375 sounds right. You have a deep fryer; that alone rocks.
nah, no fryer, just a big pot and a meat thermometer.
Scott, thanks for the tip on the core. I'll keep an eye out for the goya stuff too, but I've already got a sauce picked out (C+J sells their hotsauce in big tubs if you know to ask)
come to think of it, that meat thermometer doesn't go nearly high enough (of course). I better pick up a candy thermometer somewhere. or just wing it.
I've got a candy thermometer which I'm happy to lend for the purposes of cooking goodness.
You do? You never make me candy.
How's your stomach?
I thought manioc was poisonous unless prepaired correctly to pulp and remove the toxins. Best to check what the inhabitants of the Amazon Region do.
Probably frying destroys the toxins. Fats are too hard won and nutritionally essential in the Amazon to be used for frying.
Do a search on "manioc toxin".
no stomach complaints, other than the ones that normally accompany eating half a pound of fried starch. but I ended up boiling the yucca prior to frying to soften it up, which I'm sure helped avoid stomach problems.
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