Mofongo con Carne Frita

Mofongo con Carne Frita (Mofongo with Fried Pork Chunks) is a hyper delicious Puerto Rican dish made of a garlic plantain mash, topped with carne frita and a garlic aioli. One of the best dishes you will ever have!

Mofongo is one of our most beloved dishes of Puerto Rico.  If you have never eaten or even heard of mofongo, let me just simply say, it will be one of the best dishes you will ever eat!

What is Mofongo

Mofongo is a garlic plantain mash that is either eaten on it’s own or topped with seafood (especially shrimps), carne frita (fried pork chunks), chicharrones de pollo (fried chicken chunks) or churrasco (skirt steak).

This dish is known and considered to be one of Puerto Rico’s quintessential dishes and loved by everyone!

Although normally mofongo is made by frying green plantains and then mashing them, some people do boil the plantain instead of frying before mashing.  As far as me, I like mine fried!

You then add garlic and olive oil to the plantain mash and enjoy all on its own or top with any meat or seafood you like.

There are many popular mofongo combinations but two of the most common combinations are mofongo con carne frita, mofongo con chicharrones de pollo and mofongo con camarones (mofongo with shrimps).

Other Common Mofongo Combinations Served on the Island

Mofongo con Churrasco (Skirt steak)

Mofongo Relleno de Pollo (Chicken)

Mofongo con Camarones (Shrimps) (check out this delicious combination topped with shrimps in criolla sauce!)

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
• 4-8 tablespoons butter
• 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.

You can also use pork fat (tocino). Simply cut into small cubes and fry in a little bit of oil until crispy and drain on paper towels like I did for this mofongo con carne frita.

Ingredients to Make Carne Frita (Fried Pork Chunks)

• 2 pounds pork shoulder or Pork Butt
• 1 packet (envelope) of Sazon with Annatto
• 1 teaspoon Adobo Seasoning (I use Goya Brand)
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 4-6 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• ⅓ cup of vinegar
• vegetable oil for frying

Garlic Aioli for Topping

• 2 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup of olive oil

Also if you have some homemade chicken broth, serve a little bit on the side in a small dish and then dunk mofongo in as your eating your mofongo for even extra deliciousness!

How to Make Mofongo con Carne Frita

Begin with the carne frita 

1. Peel 4-6 garlic cloves and add to a blender with oregano and 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Set aside.
2. Rinse pork and cut up pork into 1 ½ inch chunks.  (Keep the fat on pork as this makes the pork tastier and juicer).
3. Season with adobo, sazon, garlic and oregano puree and vinegar.  Mix pieces with your hands or a spoon.
4. Marinate covered for 30 minutes in the refrigerator or overnight (especially if using pork shoulder).

For the Plantains

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 for 15-20 minutes. (*This step is optional and not necessary)

Time to Fry the plantains.

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 pilón (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 pilón.

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. I usually add a little more myself!

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 butter. 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. ( If you cannot find pork cracklings, use pork fat (tocino). Simply cut into small cubes and fry in a little bit of oil to crisp like I did here).
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.

Garic Aioli

Add the ingredients for garlic aioli to a blender or chopper and blend until smooth. Set aside until ready to use.

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 carne frita and top with garlic aioli.

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 carne frita to the center of mofongo.

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 carne frita.

Don’t forget to top with the garlic aioli.

Done!

For more delicious plantain dishes, you will also love these recipes:

Platanos Fritos (Fried Sweet Plantains)

Plantain Chips

Bolon de Verde (Green Plantain Fritters)

Garlic Tostones (Fried Garlic Plantains)

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

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