Crispy Baked Yuca Fries
Seasoned cassava root, cut into large fries and baked into crispy, delicious yuca fries
Ingredients
- 1 cassava root 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
- 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. Peppercorn Perfection seasoning blend
Instructions
- The very first step, is to never eat the cassava root raw. It must be soaked and boiled to become edible.
- Now that you know that, cut off the ends of the cassava root.
- Soak the roots in water for several hours or overnight. (This helps when removing the outer skin of the root.) Remove the roots from the water and rinse thoroughly. Discard the soaking water.
- Peel remaining skins off the roots.
- Using a potato peeler, peel a very thin layer from the root and discard.
- Cut the roots into quarters lengthwise.
- Remove the very inner core from each of the cassava root quarters.
- Cut the cassava root quarters into large steak fry pieces.
- Boil yuca fries in a fresh pot of boiling water for about 15-20 minutes. Stirring them once or twice to get the ones on the bottom to the top, and vice verse. Test them at 15 minutes to see if a knife easily inserts into the fries. They should feel al dente and not mushy.
- Remove fries from the boiling water and strain through a colander. Once cool enough to handle, lay them out on a tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze for at least one hour before seasoning and baking.
- Any extra yuca fries can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container until ready to use.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 ℉. Remove fries from the freezer about 30 minutes before baking, and toss with olive oil. Season with lemon pepper, salt and pepper and whatever kind of seasoning salt you like best. Place back on the baking sheets and roast for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown and crispy. Serve hot.
Notes
When making yuca fries, count on about 12-14 fries per one pound of cassava root. This recipe calls for a 1 to 1 1/2 lb. root, so it will yield approximately 12-14 fries. Simply multiply the ingredients by however large your root is, or if you happen to buy more than one smaller root. Some of the roots can be as big as 2-3 lbs. The 1 lb. roots are among the smaller roots you’ll find in the markets.