Short answer: Yuca frita con chicharrón is El Salvador’s great snack and street plate: cassava boiled soft, then fried golden and crisp, piled with fried pork and a mound of curtido and tomato salsa over the top. Boil the yuca first until a fork slides in, then fry it; that two-step is what gives you a crust outside and a fluffy middle. It is the same plate you eat with pupusas, built around the cassava instead.
If you have spent any time around Salvadoran food, you already know the rule: curtido and salsa go on everything. Yuca frita is no exception. It is sold in bags by street vendors as a snack and served as a plate with chicharrón, and the curtido cuts the richness of both the fried yuca and the pork. Two tips carry the whole dish: do not over-fry, and season the pork.
What is yuca frita con chicharrón?
It is a Salvadoran dish of fried cassava (yuca) served with chicharrón (fried pork) and topped with curtido, the lightly fermented cabbage slaw, and a cooked tomato salsa. The yuca is boiled until tender and then fried so it is crisp outside and soft within. It can be a street snack (often just yuca and curtido in a bag) or a full plate with the pork. A common variation, yuca con pepescas, swaps in small fried fish for the pork.
Ingredients
- 2 lb yuca (cassava), peeled and cut into wedges (fresh or frozen)
- 2 cloves garlic and 1 tablespoon salt (for boiling)
- Neutral oil, for frying
- 1½ lb pork belly or pork shoulder (skin on), cut into chunks
- For the pork: garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, juice of 1 lime
- Curtido (see the curtido recipe): cabbage, carrot, onion, oregano, vinegar
- For the salsa: 2 tomatoes, ¼ onion, 1 garlic clove, a little cumin and oregano, salt
- Lime wedges, to serve
Make the curtido at least 30 minutes ahead so it has time to soften and sour.
How to make it
- Boil the yuca. Bring a big pot of salted water with the garlic to a boil, add the yuca, and simmer 20 to 25 minutes until tender when pierced. Drain and pull out the woody fiber from the center of each piece.
- Season and cook the pork. Toss the pork with garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and lime. Fry it in oil over medium heat until deeply golden and crisp, then drain on paper towels. Season it; unseasoned chicharrón is a wasted opportunity.
- Fry the yuca. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the boiled yuca in batches until golden and crisp outside, about 5 to 6 minutes, turning once. Drain and salt lightly.
- Make the salsa. Simmer or roast the tomatoes, onion, and garlic, then blend with the cumin, oregano, and salt and cook down briefly into a loose red salsa.
- Plate it. Pile the hot yuca on a plate, set the chicharrón on top, spoon over a generous helping of curtido and the salsa, and finish with lime. Serve right away, while the yuca is crisp.
Tips
- Boil, then fry. Frying raw yuca leaves it hard. Boil it tender first, then fry only to crisp the outside.
- Pull the core. There is a fibrous string down the center of a yuca piece; remove it after boiling.
- Curtido ahead. It needs at least half an hour to soften; a day ahead is better.
More of the country’s table is in the El Salvador food guide.
Shop This Recipe
Lodge Enameled Dutch Oven
Frying yuca to a crisp shell takes deep, steady oil, and a heavy enameled pot holds that heat without scorching.
OXO Spider Strainer
A spider lifts the fried cassava clear of the oil in one motion and drains it as it comes out.
Frequently asked questions
What is yuca frita con chicharrón?
A Salvadoran dish of cassava boiled then fried crisp, served with fried pork (chicharrón), curtido slaw, and tomato salsa. It is both a street snack and a full plate.
Why do you boil the yuca before frying it?
Cassava is dense and starchy; boiling it tender first means it cooks through, so the frying only has to crisp the outside. Fry it raw and it stays hard.
What is served with yuca frita?
Curtido (fermented cabbage slaw) and a cooked tomato salsa, always, plus chicharrón (fried pork) or pepescas (small fried fish), and lime.
Can I use frozen yuca?
Yes, and it is often easier since it comes peeled. Boil it until tender just as you would fresh, then fry.
What is yuca con pepescas?
The same dish with small fried fish (pepescas) in place of, or alongside, the chicharrón. It is a common Salvadoran variation.
About Isela Post
Isela is a Belizean mother who has been cooking from memory and from markets her whole life. Her recipes carry the food of the Yucatec Maya tradition, the corner store ingredients of daily Belizean life, and the party table of every celebration she has ever fed people at. She writes for the Belize News Post.
