Mofongo

Mofongo (Spanish translation: moˈfoŋgo) is a fried plantain based dish from Puerto Rico. It is typically made with fried green plantains mashed together in a pilón (which is a wooden mortar and pestle), with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. It is often filled with vegetables, chicken, crab, shrimp, or beef and is often served with fried meat and chicken broth soup. Mofongo relleno is mofongo stuffed with stewed beef, pork, chicken or seafood, with stewed sauce poured over.

Origins

The dish is ultimately of African origin and is a variant of a traditional dish called Fufu, which is made from various starchy vegetables and was introduced to the Caribbean by African slaves in the Spanish New World colonies such as the Dominican Republic (Mangú), Cuba (fufu de plátano), and Puerto Rico (mofongo). Starchy root vegetables and plantains are boiled then mashed until a dough-like consistency with water, butter, or milk. Mofongo is fried then mashed with broth, olive oil and seasoning. The consistency of mofongo is much more stiff than fufu.

Other version

It is also possible to make mofongo with cassava, bread fruit, ripe plantains, or a combination of cassava, green plantains, and ripe plantains called trifongo.

In popular culture

Food Network chef and host Guy Fieri featured mofongo from Benny's Seafood (in Miami, Florida) and from El Bohio (in San Antonio, Texas) on two separate episodes of his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. He liked the dish so much that he called it the "best fried thing I ever ate" on an episode of the show The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

Mofongo is featured in a Season 2 episode of Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell as the opening dish challenge.

In a Season 2 episode of Sanford and Son, Lamont tells his father that he has met their new next-door neighbor, Puerto Rican Julio Fuentes. Lamont tells his father that Fuentes gave him "a dish of some stuff that was terrific", which was mofongo.