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I'm surprised this question isn't already on here, maybe I missed it...

To start, had my first taste of yucca cooked as a sort of alternative french fry at a Bolivian restaurant, and it was delicious. Reminded me of a tastier, sweeter french fry. So inspired by this, I bought some myself and attempted to replicate it, but utterly failed.

What is the best way to replicate the recipe? After watching a video on youtube of how to prepare it, I deep fried it in oil, but it overcooked much too quickly.

UPDATE:

I tried out the selected answer's recipe yesterday, and it worked fantastic. I did a few things differently though, mainly due to time constraints. Full recipe:

  1. Cut off brown skin.
  2. Slice into steak fry slices
  3. Boil for 10mn (I would suggest less, some thinner slices became too soft)
  4. Place in freezer (I only had time for 20-30 mn, but I'd go with the full hr as suggested by the selected answer if you have the time)
  5. Heat Peanut oil (Med-High) in deep cooking pot (can get messy) and cook until brown.
  6. Sprinkle with salt

Note: The answered recipe suggests frying until golden/golden brown, but I found a darker fry to be much tastier!

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    I edited your title because the "best way" to cook cassava or yucca in general is pretty subjective, while how to successfully make something like french fries from it is not.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Apr 18, 2012 at 23:27
  • I had something similar at a US chain restaurant called Bahama Breeze. It was like a Yucca croquette and totally amazing.
    – Jacob G
    Apr 19, 2012 at 1:03
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    Thank you for coming back with results, it is always interesting to know if the advice here works in real life :) But I don't understand step 4 - blanching is normally done for 20-30 seconds, not 20-30 minutes to an hour.
    – rumtscho ♦
    May 9, 2012 at 13:36
  • No prob! Uh oh, got blanching mixed up with step 5 from the selected answer, and tbh didn't know the complete definition in the first place.. I'll update that!
    – JWiley
    May 9, 2012 at 14:07

2 Answers 2

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This is how my mom prepares it (she's from Brazil, so it might be a tad different):

  1. Cut off all the dark brown skin
  2. Wash it and put it into a pot of water and bring to a boil
  3. Boil for about 10 minutes (it should still be slightly firm, but not hard)
  4. Cut it up into french-fry sized pieces
  5. Put the slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour
  6. Heat oil, fry them for about 10 minutes (until golden brown)
  7. Sprinkle with salt

Steps 1-5 can be done ahead of time and you just pull out what you need from the freezer to fry. I have not personally made these, but I ate hers a lot and they were fantastic!

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  • What purpose does freezing accomplish?
    – Eli Lansey
    Apr 19, 2012 at 16:52
  • @EliLansey From what I've read, you don't want them too soft when you place them in the fryer, so this probably rehardens them for that purpose.
    – JWiley
    Apr 19, 2012 at 17:25
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    Chilling after blanching tends to result in crispier results for both potatoes and cassava.
    – JasonTrue
    Apr 19, 2012 at 17:31
  • @Michael: I'll be testing out your recipe this week, and got peanut oil. This is what your mom uses right..?
    – JWiley
    Apr 30, 2012 at 12:34
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    @Eli- the freezing opens up the interior starches which makes the fries much more fluffy when they are fried. aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/…
    – Sobachatina
    May 9, 2012 at 19:58
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Cassava requires preparation before eating to remove toxins.

A common way to prepare for modern agriculturally grown Cassava (low in toxins) is simply boiling the Cassava first, the toxins are absorbed into the cooking water, and this water is thrown away. Assume this happened when the chips where made too.

Like other soft starchy vegetables, deep fry in lower temperature oil than you would use for potatoes.

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  • Think you could expand on this a little? How long do I boil the cassava, and what's the best oil/temp/time combo?
    – JWiley
    Apr 19, 2012 at 11:28
  • Serious Eats recommends boiling for potatoes as well, purely for texture: aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/… That might be related.
    – Yamikuronue
    Apr 19, 2012 at 13:01

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