Mofongo con Camarones

Mofongo con Camarones or Mofongo de Camarones (Mofongo with Shrimps) is a hyper delicious Puerto Rican dish made with a garlic plantain mash and served with shrimps in a salsa criolla sauce.  One of the best dishes you will ever have!

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What is Mofongo

Mofongo (Garlic Plantain Mash) is the quintessential dish of Puerto Rico.  It is by far one of our most loved dishes and with good reason.

Guy Fieri, from the Food Network claims it is the “best fried thing he ever ate!”

Mofongo is also known as “Mofongo Boricua.” 

This delicious Puerto Rican dish is simply fried green plantains that are then mashed with a garlic puree or paste,  “chicharrones” (pork cracklings) and olive oil.

This simple combination is phenomenal!

However, there is the Mofongo Relleno, which simply means a mofongo that is stuffed with a delicious filling, such as with shrimps, pork or chicken.

Yes!  Add shrimp and this already delicious dish somehow gets even more delicious.  Mofongo con Camarones or Mofongo de Camarones is just simply delicious!

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How is Mofongo Prepared

Mofongo, authentically, is prepared in a “pilón” or a wooden mortar and pestle.

However, do not be alarmed, you do not need a wooden mortar and pestle to make mofongo.  As long as you have a mortar and pestle it does not have to be a wooden one.

As a matter of fact, as long as you have a tool in your kitchen that you can use to mash the plantains, such as a meat mallet you will be fine.

Mofongo can be eaten all on it’s own and served with “caldo de pollo” (chicken broth), garlic mojo sauce or criolla sauce served right on top or on the side.

However, it is usually served with either carne frita (fried pork chunks), roasted pork, chicken, beef, shrimps, octopus, conch or any kind of mixed seafood.

Of course my favorite kind of mofongo is “Mofongo con Mariscos” (Seafood Mofongo).

I like to add a combination of shrimps, mussels, calamari and scallops to my seafood mofongo.  Stay tuned for my recipe on Seafood Mofongo!

How is Mofongo Served

Mofongo can be served in a variety of ways.

In Puerto Rico, you will often find restaurants that will serve you the mofongo straight out of the pilón and the center is then filled with either meat or seafood.

It is also very commonly formed into a half moon or sphere and then served on a plate and surrounded or topped with all the goodies.

Restaurants will also commonly ask if you would like your mofongo  with a “mojo sauce” (garlic sauce) or with salsa criolla (criolla sauce).

Most Common Mofongos Served on the Island

Mofongo con Carne Frita (Fried Pork Chunks)

Mofongo Relleno de Pollo (Chicken)

Mofongo con Camarones (Shrimps) This recipe!

Mofongo Relleno de Mariscos (Seafood Mix)

Mofongo Relleno de Pulpo (Octopus)

Mofongo Relleno de Carrucho (Conch)

Trifongo (Mofongo made with Yuca, Green Plantain and Ripe Plantain)

Other Kinds of Mofongo

Traditionally, mofongo is made with green plantains however mofongo can also be made with different kinds of starchy vegetables such as cassava (yuca).

These include:

Mofongo de Yuca (Cassava Mofongo)

Mofongo de Pana (Breadfruit Mofongo)

Mofongo de Malanga y Yautía (Taro and Eddoe Mofongo)

Ingredients for Monfongo con Camarones

For the Mofongo

• 4 Green Plantains (depending on how large they are, you will get 3 to 4 Mofongos)
• adobo seasoning (optional)
• 8 garlic cloves (peeled)
• olive oil
• chicharrones (pork cracklings)
• salt to taste
• Vegetable oil for frying

Note:  Traditionally the pork cracklings are made fresh, using pork skin which is then fried and crushed into the plantain mash.  For simplicity purposes, many homes and restaurants use a store bought bag of pork cracklings.

Shrimps in Salsa Criolla

• 1 pound raw large shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 onion (thinly sliced and cut into half moons or chopped)
• 1 green pepper (thinly sliced and cut into half moons or chopped)
• 1 yellow or red pepper (thinly sliced and cut into half moons or chopped)
• 8 ounces crushed tomato sauce
• 4 ounces tomato sauce
• 2-4 garlic cloves (minced)
• 4 ounces of white wine (can substitute with water)
• 2 dry bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons of sofrito
• 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
• 3 culantro leaves (recao) chopped (hard to find in the states so you can leave out)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

How to Make Mofongo con Camarones

1. Using a knife, cut the ends of the plantains.
2. Gently score the plantains lengthwise with the knife and cut through the skin without cutting into the flesh.
3. Gently pry the skin with your finger tip at one end and running it down the banana to peel skin.
4. Cut the plantains into ½ inch slices.
5. Place plantain pieces in a bowl with water and add 1 teaspoon of adobo or salt. Let them sit in water while you begin on the criolla sauce.

1. Chop all the vegetables and get or other ingredients ready for the salsa criolla.
2. Peel and devein shrimp.  Place in a bowl, cover and put shrimps in refrigerator until ready to use.

1. Over medium heat, add the 2 tablespoons of oil to a large saucepan or caldero.
2. Add the onions and peppers, stir and cook until onions are translucent.
3. Add bay leaves, sofrito, culantro (if using), cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper.  Stir.

1. Add the crushed tomato sauce and tomato sauce to the pot.
2. Add the white wine or water.  Stir.
3. Cook on medium or medium low for 30 minutes.  Stir every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure sauce is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.

While sauce is cooking, fry the plantain slices.

1. Drain the plantain pieces in a colander.  Let plantain pieces sit in colander and continue draining.
2. In a frying pan, over medium heat, add about one cup of vegetable or canola oil.
3. When oil is hot, gently add a few plantain pieces at a time.
4. Fry and cook plantain pieces until golden brown.
5. With a fork, flip the pieces over and cook on the other side until golden brown.
6. Once plantain pieces are cooked, drain on paper towels.
7. Continue frying plantain pieces until all pieces are fried.

Note:  You do not want the plantain pieces to burn or get too dark in color.  You want them to simply cook through.

1. Add all the garlic cloves to the pilon (mortar and pestle).
2. Add a tablespoon of olive oil.
3. Start mashing the garlic with the pestle until you have formed a garlic paste.
4. Remove garlic paste from pilon.

Note: You will divide this garlic paste equally for each mofongo made.  About 2 garlic cloves per mofongo.  You can add more or less garlic paste to each mofongo if you like.

1. Add a few pieces of plantain at a time to the pilón (mortar and pestle).
2. Start mashing the plantain pieces with the pestle to form almost a stiff mash potato base. (Mash while plantain pieces are still hot)
3. Add some of the garlic paste to the plantain mash and about a tablespoon of olive oil and mash all together.
4. Add a few pieces of chicharrones (pork cracklings) and salt to taste, to the plantain mash.  Mash again and mix well.
5. If needed, add more oil.  You do not want the mofongo to be too dry but also not to moist.
6. Now that the first batch of plantain pieces are mashed and seasoned, remove the mash from the pilón and set aside in a bowl.
7. Repeat the same procedure with the remaining pieces of plantain until they are all mashed and seasoned.

Note: Depending on the size of the plantain, 1 plantain = one serving, so 4 plantains would make 4 mofongos.

1. In the meantime head back to the sauce and add the shrimp to the criolla sauce.  Stir.
2. Depending on how big the shrimps are, cook for 5-7 minutes in sauce.
3. Sauce is now fully cooked.

Now that the mofongo is done it is time to form the plantain mash into individual mofongos.

**Here you will have several options.

First option:

You can divide the mofongo into 4 equal sections.

Place one section at a time to a small bowl and mash plantain down with a spoon to form half moon spheres.

Flip bowl over onto a plate with the plantain mash in the center of the plate.

Repeat procedure with the other sections of plantain mash onto individual plates for servings.

Top or surround mofongos with the shrimps in salsa criolla.

Note:  You can also form the half moon spheres with your hands.

Second option:

If you have more than one set of pilones (a mortar and pestle), you can serve mofongo right out of each pilón.

To serve mofongo from a pilón, form a half moon inside the pilón pressing down plantain mash with the pestle or spoon.

Using the pestle or spoon form a concave in the center.  You will then add the shrimp in salsa criolla to the center.

Another option for serving mofongo in a pilón, is too set mofongo over to one side of the pilón as shown above.

Then fill up the pilón with the shrimps in salsa criolla.

Done!

Note:  Alternative to the shrimp, you can make and top the mofongo with Carne Frita (Fried Pork Chunks) and serve with a garlic mojo sauce on the top or side.

What to Serve Mofongo con Camarones with:

Serve this dish all on its own for a full meal.

Serve with a side of Arroz Blanco (Puerto Rican White Rice) and Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Beans) stewed.

Serve with Puerto Rican Rice and Beans (Arroz con Habichuelas)

For more delicious Puerto Rican dishes and dishes made with plantains, you will also love these:

Canoas de Platano (Stuffed Plantains)

Garlic Tostones (Fried Garlic Plantains)

Platanos Fritos (Puerto Rican Sweet Plantains)

Bolón de Verde (Green Plantain Fritters) stuffed with monterey cheese

Puerto Rican Rice (Puerto Rican Yellow Rice with Corn)

Puerto Rican Pinchos (Pinchos de Cerdo) – Authentic Puerto Rican Pork Skewers

For a full list of recipes, click here→Puerto Rican Recipes

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