Boiled Yuca with Sizzling Garlic Citrus Mojo
Mise en Place / Ingredients[7]
- 2.5 lbs Frozen or fresh peeled yuca (cassava) (Goya Frozen Yuca)
- 10 cloves Garlic cloves, crushed to paste with salt
- 0.5 cup Seville sour orange juice (Badia)
- 0.5 cup Spanish extra virgin olive oil (Goya)
- 1 whole White onion, sliced into rings
- 8 cups Water (for boiling yuca and cold-water shock)
- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp Kosher salt (2 tbsp for boiling water + 1 tsp for garlic mojo)
🛒 US Supermarket Brand Guide
Pre-peeled and flashes boiled into fork-tender consistency without woody fibers. • 📍 Hispanic freezer section.
Cooking Sequence & Checkpoints
Simmer yuca chunks in salted water for 20 minutes until edges turn translucent.
✓ Checkpoint: Translucent tenderizing edges.
Pour 1 cup ice-cold water into pot. Simmer 10 minutes more until yuca splits open.
✓ Checkpoint: Blossomed, butter-soft cassava.
Warm olive oil with onion rings. Add garlic paste for 30 seconds, then splash in sour orange juice.
✓ Checkpoint: Aromatic sizzling citrus mojo.
Drain yuca, pull out woody center veins, and drench in piping-hot garlic mojo.
✓ Checkpoint: Glistening yuca dripping with garlic.
🔬 Why It Works:
The Thermal Shock Trick: Pouring a cup of cold ice water into boiling yuca ruptures starch granules, causing the root to blossom into a velvety crumb.
⚠️ Troubleshooting:
Glassy hard yuca: Apply cold water shock and simmer an additional 10 minutes over gentle heat.