Cuban yuca con mojo is cassava root boiled in salted water until it flakes, then dressed with a hot garlic sauce. The mojo is olive oil, garlic mashed to a paste with salt, sliced onion, and sour orange or lime. The woody cord running down the center is pulled out before serving.
The dish is not the boiling. The dish is what goes on top once the pot comes off the fire.
What is yuca con mojo?
Cassava is peeled, cut into lengths and boiled in heavily salted water until a fork goes through it without resistance. The mojo is made separately in a skillet and poured over hot: olive oil, mashed garlic, softened onion and sour orange. So it goes to the table as a side, most often beside roast pork.
Mojo is garlic, oil and sour orange, so the citrus is carrying a third of the dish on its own. Naranja agria is bitter rather than sweet, and that bitterness is the point of it.
Pure lard (manteca) for making masa dough and frying - the fat traditional recipes rely on for texture and flavor.
Yuca and cassava are the same root under two names. The plant is Manihot esculenta, domesticated in South America and grown across pre-Columbian tropical America (source).
Boiled yuca on its own carries almost no flavor, which is the whole problem. That is the whole reason the dressing exists, and why it goes on hot rather than cold. Still, the dish lives or dies on the mojo and on how hard the boiling water was salted.
It belongs on the Nochebuena table beside roast pork and congrí (source), but it is not a holiday-only plate. It turns up on ordinary Cuban tables all year.
Mash the garlic with salt, and keep the citrus off the heat
The garlic is crushed to a paste in a mortar, salt and all, never minced. That is because the salt is the grit that breaks the clove down. Chopped garlic leaves pieces that brown unevenly in the oil and gives you a rougher, patchier sauce.
The oil is not a drizzle. Half a cup for two pounds of root looks like far too much until you see it coat every piece. But that volume is the sauce. It is also why the pan comes off the burner before the sour orange goes in: hot oil and citrus juice spatter.
How long the garlic cooks decides the character of the mojo. A minute or two over medium heat keeps it sharp and raw-edged. Four or five minutes on medium-low rounds it out and softens the bite. Neither should take on color, though. Garlic that browns turns bitter and the whole pan goes with it.
What you need for Cuban yuca con mojo
- 2 lb (900 g) yuca (cassava), fresh or frozen, peeled and cut into 3-inch (7 cm) pieces
- 1 tbsp (18 g) salt, for the boiling water, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 7 cloves garlic (about 25 g), peeled
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt, for mashing with the garlic
- 1 medium onion (about 150 g), halved and sliced thin
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) sour orange juice (naranja agria), or equal parts fresh orange and fresh lime juice
- 1/2 tsp (1 g) dried oregano (optional)
- 2 tbsp (8 g) chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, to finish (optional)
- 1/2 cup (40 g) chicharron, crumbled over the top (optional)
Sour orange or lime is a real split and both are correct. Sour orange is the older answer and gives a rounder acidity. Lime is sharper and easier to find. With neither on the shelf, equal parts fresh orange and fresh lime juice gets close enough that nobody will call it out.
The oregano here is Mediterranean, not Mexican. They are different plants and they taste different in this sauce.
How long yuca con mojo takes
| Prep | 20 minutes |
| Boiling the yuca | 25 to 30 minutes |
| Mojo | about 10 minutes |
| Total | about 1 hour |
| Serves | 6 |
How to make Cuban yuca con mojo
- Peel the yuca. Cut it crosswise into 3-inch (7 cm) pieces, stand each piece on end, slit the waxy skin and lift it away in strips. Frozen yuca comes peeled, so skip to the next step.
- Cover it with cold water by 2 inches (5 cm) in a large pot and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Salt the water hard. This is the only chance the root gets to season itself.
- Boil, then simmer 25 to 30 minutes, until a fork slides in with no resistance and the pieces start to flake at the edges.
- Mash the garlic with 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a mortar until it forms a paste, while the yuca boils.
- Warm the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat.
- Soften the onion, about 4 minutes, until it goes translucent.
- Add the garlic paste. One to two minutes for a sharper mojo, four to five on low for a rounder one. Do not let it take color.
- Off the heat, add the citrus. Pour the sour orange juice in carefully; it spatters. Add the oregano and a pinch of salt, then return the pan to low heat for 1 minute.
- Drain and pull the cord. Lift the woody core out of each piece with a fork. It comes free easily once the root is soft.
- Taste and salt the yuca before anything goes on it.
- Dress it. Arrange the yuca on a platter and pour the hot mojo over the top.
- Finish with parsley or cilantro, and chicharron if you are using it. Serve hot.
Tips and variations
- Frozen yuca is not a compromise. It comes peeled and cored and boils the same way. Plenty of Cuban kitchens in Miami buy it that way by default.
- Toss it in the pan instead of pouring over. Return the drained yuca to the skillet and turn it through the mojo for 2 to 3 minutes. It coats more evenly and the platter looks less tidy. Both finishes are served.
- Lard instead of olive oil. Rendered pork fat is the older fat here and it makes a heavier, richer mojo. Olive oil is what most kitchens reach for now, and it works.
- Red onion holds a little color and a little bite through the cooking. Yellow disappears into the sauce.
- Chicharron over the top turns a side dish into something people stand around picking at.
- Leftovers fry well. Cut cold boiled yuca into batons and fry them the next day, which is a different dish entirely and a good one.
Where it sits on the table
Beside the pork, always, and rarely anywhere else. On Christmas Eve that means roast pork and congrí on the same table (source). The rest of the year it goes with whatever came off the stove, as the starch that soaks up a sauce.
The same root goes a different direction elsewhere in the region. Belize grates it and bakes it into cassava bread and into cassava pone. Cut up and fried it becomes yuca frita con chicharron. So that is one root and four dishes, and only this one is boiled and dressed.
Nutrition
Estimated, for one of 6 servings, based on the amounts above and standard ingredient labels. Most of the boiling salt leaves with the water, and these numbers reflect what remains.
| Calories | 410 kcal |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Saturated fat | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 60 g |
| Sugar | 3 g |
| Fiber | 3 g |
| Sodium | 600 mg |
Storing yuca con mojo
Yuca dries out fast, so timing matters more than it looks. If you boil it ahead, leave it sitting in its cooking water rather than draining it, and drain only when the mojo is ready to go on. Drained yuca left on a plate turns dry and chalky within the hour.
Refrigerate leftovers covered for up to 3 days. Reheat gently with a spoonful of extra mojo or a splash of water, since there is nothing in the root itself to keep it moist.
Equipment you will want
- A large pot, 6 to 8 quarts.
- A mortar and pestle for the garlic, the tool this dish turns on. A mortar earns its place on a counter well beyond this recipe.
- A small skillet for the mojo.
- A sharp paring knife for the skin.
- A citrus press.
Yuca con mojo questions, answered
What is Cuban yuca con mojo?
Cassava boiled until it flakes, then dressed with hot olive oil, garlic mashed with salt, onion and sour orange or lime. The woody center cord is pulled out first. It is a side dish, served most often beside roast pork, and it sits on the Nochebuena table with pork and congrí (source).
Can I use frozen yuca instead of fresh?
Yes, and it saves the worst job in the recipe. Frozen yuca comes peeled and usually cored, and it boils in about the same time. Fresh has a slightly better texture if you can get it recently harvested, but frozen is what most kitchens use.
What do I use if I cannot find sour orange?
Equal parts fresh orange juice and fresh lime juice. That combination lands close to sour orange in both acid and sweetness. Straight lime works too and gives a sharper mojo.
Why is the woody cord in the middle of the yuca removed?
It is a fibrous core running the length of the root, and it never softens no matter how long the pot boils. Pull it out with a fork after draining, when it lifts free in one piece.
Why does my yuca taste bland?
Not enough salt in the boiling water. Because cassava has almost no flavor of its own, the water is its only chance to take any on. Salt the pot generously, then taste the drained yuca and salt it again before the mojo goes over.
Why did my garlic turn bitter?
It browned, most likely. Garlic paste in hot oil goes from fragrant to burnt quickly, and once it colors the whole pan tastes acrid. Keep the heat at medium-low and pull the pan the moment the smell turns sweet.
How much yuca per person?
About 5 oz (150 g) of peeled root each as a side, which is where the 2 lb (900 g) for 6 comes from. Buy a little over if the yuca is fresh, since the skin and the cord are waste.
The pilon is the tool this dish turns on. Seven cloves mashed with salt into a paste give up far more than chopped garlic does, and the mojo tastes different for it.
If you use the orange-and-lime substitute you are juicing several pieces of fruit for a third of a cup. A press does it quickly and keeps the seeds out of the mojo.
