How do you cook or serve yucca root?

A friend gave me a waxed yucca root which she had no idea how to cook or eat it...neither do I ! Any experiences, recipes, or opinions most welcome.

How do you cook or serve yucca root?
You can do a lot with yucca. Boil it in some chicken broth, or cut it and fry it in a pan with garlic until brown, or add it to vegetable soup. (my favorite) I live in the midwest and wish I could find some yucca around here. I miss it.
Reply:Yucca Root is native to the carribean. The best of thing of carribean cooking is it's simplicity. The problem you will encounter with Yucca is that it is very fibrous and makes dishes like mashed yucca a little cumbersome. Keeping with the theme of simplicity you can do one of two things. First of all you are going to peel the Yucca like you would a potatoe depending on how thick the skin is you very well might need to use a knife and not a potatoe peeler.





Option 1) Cut the Yucca into serving portions about the size of a medium potato. Bring a pot of water to boil, once boiling add the Yucca. Depending on the size of the Yucca and how much you are cooking it can easily take 15-30 minutes to cook. You know its done by using the fork test, insert the fork it should be soft all the way through. Once done drain the water and serve with as a side dish. Serve this with an Aioli, Olive Oil and Garlic mixture.





You see simple.





Option 2) Ok my favorite because this can be served at a cook out or at a very formal affair and in both cases it adds a little excitement to a dish. Peel the Yucca as mentioned above, then julianne cut the Yucca (not too thin but not too thick about 1 inch x 1/2 inch - steak fries size) and remove the large fibers that you find. Ok here is the trick pat them dry and then salt them to taste, place them in a freezer bag to prevent freezer burn and freeze. Your preperation is done.





The day that you want to cook them simply take them out of the freezer DO NOT THAW. Heat corn oil (corn oil has a higher burning point, vegetable oil can burn and leave a bad taste on the yucca) Once the oil is hot drop enough frozen Yucca to in the pan to fill the pan but do not over fill. If you overfill your oil will cool down and not crisp your Yucca, instead the Yucca will absorb all of the oil. Brown the Yucca and make sure the center is soft, do not over cook or burn. Remove from pan and place on paper towels to drain oil. No need to salt you already took care of that (by the way the salt also prevents from them freezing together during the prep stage).





Your done - Serve these Yucca Fries with a great home made burger (Some condiment with Catsup but I would not). My favorite however is serving a great Porterhouse Steak with Yucca Fries and sprinkle the fries and steak with a little Aioli and granish with Parsley.





By the way Yucca is also known in many parts of the world as Cassava. If you like sea food I have a great dish called Bacalao with Yucca - It was known as a poor mans dish in Puerto Rico because Cod was plentiful and anyone can pull a Yucca from the gournd and start to cook. Again simplicity, but this has truly turned out to be a spectacular dish for all rich or poor.





Hope this helps - Enjoy!
Reply:We learned in survival training you can dry it, make a flour for bread. Commercially, the extract from yucca makes a foam for rootbeer and some of the tequilla drinks. I searched online. Lots of Latin-themed recipes. Many are complicated requiring other things. Follow this link for an eggplant and yucca burrito. It sounds reasonable.
Reply:Fried Yucca with Feta Cheese Sauce





4 piece of yucca root


1/4 cup Vegetable oil for frying


2 tbl Fine chopped hot chile


Pepper


1/4 tsp Salt


1/2 cup Vegetable oil


1/2 cup Evaporated milk


1/2 tsp Lemon juice


1/4 cup Chopped onion rinsed in


Boiling water





Peel yucca down to white flesh and place in boiling water and boil for 20 minutes. Remove yucca and let cool. When cool, cut yucca into slices, being sure to remove the tough center fibers. Pan fry in 1/4 cup vegetable oil until browned. The sauce can be prepared while the yucca is cooling. Mash feta cheese and egg yolks together using a fork. Mix in chile pepper and salt with beaters. Pour in the vegetable oil a little at a time while beating continuously. Add evaporated milk and lemon juice and beat well.


Mix in onion. Serve as appetizer using the sauce for dipping or th yucca can be served as a side dish with the sauce poured over it. The onion can be place in a strainer and rinsed until tender in the boiling water from which the yucca was removed.








Mashed Yucca





1/4 lb Yucca fresh or frozen


1 tsp Salt


4 tbl Unsalted butter


6 x to 8 Garlic cloves minced


1/2 cup White vinegar


1/2 tsp Freshly-ground black pepper


1 bn Italian parsley leaves chopped





Wash and peel the fresh yucca or thaw the frozen. Place in a small saucepan, and add water to cover and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the yucca is cool enough to handle, pull each root apart and remove the large fibrous veins near the center, keeping the flesh in large chunks.


Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the garlic until tender but not brown. Add the vinegar, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Bring to a boil and add the yucca. Stir and mash with a wooden spoon until a lumpy mixture is formed. Transfer to a baking dish. Cover and bake 10 minutes. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.


This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.