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Mofongo con Chicharrón

Name: Mofongo con Chicharrón
Prep time: 1 h 7 min
Total time: 2 h 7 min
Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Ingredients: green plantains — 900 g; pork belly — 350 g; salt — 15 g; garlic — 32 g; salt — 10 g; olive oil — 55 g; oil — 1104 g; chicken stock — 90 g; sofrito — 45 g; lime juice — 15 g; freshly ground black pepper — 3 g; cilantro — 10 g

Mofongo con Chicharrón reads richness 8.7, umami 6.4 and salinity 5.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Puerto Rican main, about 2 hr 7 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 6.9 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 1.8 / 10
Sour & Bright — 6.3 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 2.4 / 10
Rich & Fat — 9.1 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.3 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 8.7 · Umami 6.4 · Salinity 5.3 · Citrus 4.9 · Sourness 4.7 · Allium 3.9 · Herbaceous 2.8 · Smoke 2.1 · Sweetness 1.5 · Warm Spice 1.4 · Nutty 1.2 · Earthy 1.1 · Bitterness 1.1 · Fruity 1.0 · Floral 0.8

What's in it (12)

green plantains — 900 g
pork belly — 350 g
salt — 15 g
garlic — 32 g
salt — 10 g
olive oil — 55 g
oil — 1104 g
chicken stock — 90 g
sofrito — 45 g
lime juice — 15 g
freshly ground black pepper — 3 g
cilantro — 10 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 7 min (1 hr 7 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 268.1 kcal, 2.9 g protein, 19.3 g fat, 20.9 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Mofongo is fried green plantain pounded with garlic and pork fat. The plantains must be hard and fully green — the moment they show yellow they turn sweet and the mash goes gluey. Peel them by scoring the skin lengthwise in three places and prying it off with your thumb under cold running water.
Toss the pork belly with the coarse salt and leave it uncovered in the fridge for an hour.
Put the pork in a heavy pan with a splash of water, cover, and cook gently over low heat for about 45 minutes until the fat has rendered and a skewer slides through the meat easily.
Uncover, raise the heat and fry the cubes hard in their own fat for about 5 minutes until the skin blisters and cracks. Lift them out and keep them warm.
Heat the frying oil to 165 C. Fry the plantain rounds for about 7 minutes — they should be tender enough to crush against the side of the pan and only palest gold. Browning them here gives you tostones, not mofongo.
In a pilón, a wooden mortar, pound the garlic to a rough paste with the fine salt and the olive oil, about 3 minutes.
Add the hot plantain a few pieces at a time and mash it into the garlic paste, loosening with the hot stock, for about 5 minutes. Work fast; cold plantain will not come together.
Fold in most of the chicharrón and the sofrito, keeping a few pork cubes back. Press the mofongo into a small bowl and turn it out onto the plate as a dome. Finish with lime juice, black pepper, cilantro and the reserved chicharrón on top.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Skillet Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Pan Sauce — American
Skillet Lemon Butter Chicken with Asparagus — American
Grilled Skirt Steak with Garlic Butter — American
Fufú de Plátano — Cuban
Pato no Tucupi — Brazilian

Keep reading: what richness, umami, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.