Yuca Frita (deep-fried cassava chips) Recipe

Yuca, known as cassava (or manioc) in English, is a tuber (like potato) with a tough brown skin and a white flesh. Like potatoes, it needs to be cooked for a while before it's soft enough to eat... but when it is, it's absolutely delicious! It's more flavourful than potato, with a slight sweetness and bitterness. You can often find it in the UK at African or Caribbean grocers, or larger supermarkets. This yuca frita recipe, is one from VivaPeru's extensive collection (VivaPeru.co.uk) and it is really easy and perfect with a tasty salsa.

• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 30 minutes
• Total time: 45 minutes
• Recipe serves: 2 - 4 (as a snack)

Ingredients

• 1 Yuca (Cassava)
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Salt

Instructions

1. Start by peeling the yucca with a sharp knife, and cutting off the hard ends. Chop into sections around 3-4 inches.
2. Put into a large saucepan and cover with water. Add half a teaspoon of salt, and bring to the boil over a high heat.
3. When it's boiling, turn the heat down slightly and leave simmering. After about 15 minutes, test it with a fork. You should be able to push the fork into the yucca, but it doesn't need to be really soft. If you over boil the yuca, it will fall apart when deep-frying.
4. Drain the yuca and leave to cool.
5. When cool, chop the yuca into chips. These should be finger-sized pieces.
6. Heat the oil over a medium-high flame. When you think it's hot enough to fry, test with a small piece of yuca. It should bubble when dropped in the oil. When you're ready, deep fry the yuca chips in hot oil until golden. This should take a few minutes.
7. Use a slotted spoon to take the yuca out of the hot oil. Place on kitchen paper to dry and remove excess oil.
8. Serve with delicious salsas - we've got more recipes for those to check out!