The dish is based around plantains that are deep fried and mashed in a mortar and pestle with deep fried pork or pork skins (chicharrones), tons of garlic, salt, and olive oil. Sometimes it is topped with a sauce or meat such as pork, chicken, or shrimp. Since I don't have a deep fryer nor do I love fried foods, I compromised and created this recipe. I sauteed the plantains in olive oil along with a bit of fat I trimmed from the pork I used, then ground it in a food processor before mashing it with a meat tenderizer (I don't own a mortar and pestle and it's way less work anyway). Since I knew that deep frying makes things juicy and thus my plantain mixture would be a bit dry, I decided to take the pork and create a sauce similar to the one I ate in Philly to go on top of the mofongo.
The result was good, but nowhere near what I had in the restaurant- which is not really a surprise since baking and sauteing is never quite as good as deep frying and since I am not puerto rican and the sauce was of my own creation! BUT- it was very good, very filling, and fairly healthy. I used the leftover mofongo mix to make into patties that I fried (w/ cooking spray!) and they made and excellent snack later on.
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 tbsp EVOO
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. boneless pork chops, trimmed (reserve fat) and tenderized, then cubed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes, chopped (reserve liquid)
2 tbsp. orange juice
1-2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Mofongo:
4 tbsp. EVOO
2 tsp. garlic juice
Pork fat (trimmed from above)
5 green plantains, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt
Directions:
1. Make the sauce first. Start by heating EVOO in a saucepan over medium heat, add onions and cook until translucent about 2 minutes. Add in pork and cook until brown on all sides. Add garlic and red pepper, cook for 1 minute. Add in the remaining ingredients including the juice from the canned tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, stir, and cover.
2. While the sauce simmers, make the mofongo. Heat 2 tbsp. EVOO and 1 tsp. garlic juice in a saucepan over medium to medium high heat. Add in pork fat and half of the plantains (there should be enough room so that all plantains can brown evenly in one layer). Cook plantains, flipping once browned on the bottom, until both sides are brown. Remove from pan and place in bowl, set aside, and repeat this process with the second batch keeping the pork fat in the pan. Once all plantains have cooked, place into a food processor (including the pork fat and oil from the pan) along with the remaining ingredients. Grind finely, then transfer to a bowl and mash together with a tenderizer, adding salt if needed and mixing well.
3. Serve the mofongo with the sauce over top, spooning extra liquid down over it.
