Mofongo is a dish of fried green plantains mashed with garlic, oil, broth, and pork cracklings or chicharrón (fried pork belly or pork rinds). If there are no cracklings or chicharrón, bacon can be used as substitute. It is, simply, garlic-flavoured mashed green plantains. While it is a dish that is made popular by Puerto Rico, Mofongo can trace its
roots to Africa and another mashed starchy dish known to many of us as foo-foo.
Similar versions of this dish can be found in other Spanish-speaking countries in the region, like Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
Mofongo can be served two ways – stuffed with cooked meat or seafood or as a mound of mash to be eaten with a very saucy stew of meat or seafood. Either way, it is excellent, especially, if like me, you are a lover of green plantains.
Making Mofongo is very easy to do at home but you do need a mortar and pestle. This is one of those handmade dishes that require some work. And a food processor would, could not do the job. Some planning is involved if you are determined to make it with cracklings or chicharrón; however, if bacon is all you have on hand, go for it. In my case, I had the rind of a ham that I crisped up in a pan and used in place of the cracklings/chicharrón/bacon.
I took the time to slowly infuse oil with the garlic, during the process, the garlic was cooked gently until golden with a hint of colour. It was so fragrant.
I made the balls to serve as a side dish with
