Crispy Yuca Fries with Yuzu Kosho Aioli
If you have ever attempted making potato french fries at home, you probably know how difficult it can be to achieve a super crispy fry with a soft, fluffy center. I know many chefs who have spent countless hours going through multiple steps of soaking, boiling, low-temp–frying, freezing, high-temp-frying in order to achieve french fry perfection. While many of these methods can yield very delicious results, let me suggest skipping the potatoes and switching to yuca fries. Yuca fries get super crispy, have delicious, fluffy interiors, and are significantly easier to make. There are only 2 steps to the cooking process, boiling in water and then frying in hot oil. I have provided a recipe for a quick yuzu kosho aioli, but they can be served with any dipping sauce that you would normally serve with french fries.
Yuca (AKA Cassava, Manioc)
Yuca is a starchy tuber that is used in many cuisines around the world. When shopping for yuca, I typically look for whole yuca, although frozen, peeled yuca is a great substitute. It can be a bit hard to find in your typical US grocery store but if you have any latin-american markets nearby, they usually carry yuca, either fresh or frozen. Avoid yuca that has bruised skin. When you cut into the yuca it should have a white interior, free of any dark spots or discoloration.
Cooking Method
To cook the yuca, you must first peel it and remove the fibrous section that runs through the center of the yuca. After it is peeled, cut, and given a quick rinse, it is boiled in salted water with a few cloves of garlic. The water should be boiling aggressively so that the outside of the yuca softens up and starts to slightly break apart and fray. These frayed and broken bits will crisp up very nicely when fried in the hot oil. After the yuca has cooked through in the boiling water, its is allowed to cool briefly before frying in hot oil. The yuca should be fried for at least 8 minutes or so so that the exterior develops a very crispy crust.
Goes well with:
- Peruvian roasted chichen
- Fried sweet plantains
- You can serve this yuca with any dipping sauce you like. It also goes very well with the cilantro-jalapeno sauce found here.
Yuca Fries with Yuzu Kosho Aioli
Ingredients
- 2# whole yuca (about 1.5# peeled, cut yuca)
- 3 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
- 6-8 cups neutral flavored cooking oil (canola, vegetable, corn….etc)
- salt
Yuzu Kosho Aioli
- 5 Tbsp mayonnaise (kewpie if you can find it)
- 1 clove garlic, grated (4 grams)
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1.25 tsp green or red yuzu kosho (japanesee fermented chile and citrus paste)
Instructions
Yuzu kosho aioli
- Mix mayonaise, grated garlic, lemon juice and yuzu kosho in a small bowl and set aside
Yuca fries
- Cut the ends off the yuca and cut it into roughly 2 inch sections. Make sure the interior of the yuca is free of blemishes, bruises, and discoloration.
- Cut a slit along the skin of each piece of yuca.
- Use a knife or your fingers to get underneath the skin near the slit you made and peel away the outer layer. If the skin does not come off easily, use a knife to cut it away.
- You will probably notice a small point in the center of yuca that runs down the entire length of the tuber. This is the fibrous part that we will be removing later. Cut each piece of yuca in half along this fibrous centerline.
- Cut each half into thirds or quarters (in wedge-shaped pieces).
- Cut off the pointy side of each wedge and discard to remove the fibrous part of the yuca.
- Rinse the yuca pieces.
- Put the yuca into a pot with 3 cloves of lightly crushed garlic and cover with at least 2 inches of fresh water. Season the water with salt until it tastes pleasantly seasoned. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Adjust the temperature of the burner to maintain a steadily rolling boil. Cook the yuca until it is starting to fray around the edges and is tender throughout. Yuca can vary greatly in cooking time. Sometimes it may only take 8 minutes but some yuca can take up to 30 minutes to soften. If the water level decreases too much, top up with more water as it cooks.
- Remove yuca from the water, drain, and allow to cool for at least 10 to 15 minutes on a plate. At this point you can refrigerate the yuca and store for up to 2 days to fry at a later time.
- The yuca should look frayed around the edges. If you want extra crispy yuca, you can use your fingers to break up and fray the exterior even more. The frayed bits will get extra crunchy after frying.
- In a large pot, heat the oil to about 375F. Do not overfill the pot because the hot oil will bubble aggressively when you first add the yuca. (if you are frying yuca that is cold from the fridge, bring your oil up to 400F because the cold yuca will cause your fryer oil to drop in temperature significantly)
- Carefully add the yuca to the oil and fry for approximately 8-10 minutes at 350F. Monitor the temperature of the oil as you fry the yuca and try to keep it at 350 the entire time. This 8-10 minute cooking time may seem a bit long but it is what will give the yuca the thick, crispy crust.
- Use a spider or strainer to remove the yuca and place it on paper towels. Lightly season with salt if desired.
- Serve the yuca with the aioli.
