Back in 2007 I was semi-living in Peru and everything I ate was out of this world! Including yucca. It tasted kinda-like a potato, just a little bit starchy-er. Margerie (our cook) fixed some up at least 3x a week and I loved it.
Fast forward to 2012 and I just re-found this delicious root vegetable that goes by Yucca.
I’ve seen Yucca at Safeway, Asian markets, and a few local Health Food type stores. Typical price is right around $1.25lb.
Here’s the details:
- First cut the root in 1/2 then slice off the peel (be careful it’s more like bark).
- Now split the 1/2 into 1/4′s then half the 1/4′s to be simliar size of steak fries.
- Boil the Yucca in a pot full of water with a teaspoon of salt for 15-20min or until fork tender. (cooking time will vary if you choose to cut the Yucca thinner or ticker)
- Once the Yucca is cooked, place a few pieces in a pan (heat on med-high) and fry (with coconut oil or bacon fat) on each side for 2-2.5 min each side or until golden brown.
- Dip them in your favorite condiment(s) just like french fries.
Thank you, Andrew, for your wonderful blog! I just got your email!
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Thank you Andrew for all you do for us celiacs!
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Thank you
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In Brazil we have a lot of recipes with mandioca.
Cakes, cookies, mashed… yummi
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Yucca is not cassava, fyi.
I used to live in Africa (for 4 years) and cassava is called yuca (with one c) and is a different plant than yucca (with 2 c’s). Cassava is manioc, the source of tapioca and tapioca starch that is found in a lot of GF recipes. Cassava needs to be soaked before using b/c it contains trace amounts of cyanide (yikes!), so it’ not fried like yucca.
Love fried yucca. It’s the best.
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Andrew Cordova Reply:
April 17th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Thanks for catching that.
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