Puerto Rican Mondongo Recipes

[RECIPE + VIDEO] MONDONGO SOUP (DOMINICAN TRIPE STEW)

Steps:

• Cleaning the honeycomb: Peel off fat and lining. Wash with abundant cold water.
• Boiling the honeycomb: Place the honeycomb in a large pot. Add cilantro, a teaspoon of salt, and ground black pepper. Pour in half a gallon [2 liters] of water and add the juice of two limes (or lemon juice). Boil over medium heat until the honeycomb is fork-tender, adding water as it becomes necessary to maintain the same level. This may take a long time: 1 to 3 hours in a conventional pot. You can shorten this by using a pressure cooker, where it may take 30 to 60 minutes.
• Chopping the honeycomb: Remove the honeycomb from the heat and discard the liquid. Cool to room temperature. Cut into spoon-sized pieces.Set it aside.
• Cooking the vegetables: In a pot heat the oil over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion and garlic. Cook and stir until the onions become translucent. Stir in celery, peppers, and tomatoes. Cook covered for a couple of minutes. Add oregano, and pour in the tomato sauce and stir.
• Cooking the mondongo: Add the honeycomb, carrot, and potato. Cook stirring for a couple of minutes. Pour in Add 3 cups of water. Simmer covered over low heat until the potatoes and carrots are cooked through (about 15 minutes). Taste and season with salt and hot sauce to taste. Remove from the heat.
• Serving: This should be served as soon as it comes off the stove. If you are not going to eat it right away, reheat right before serving. Serve with arroz blanco and avocado.

TRADITIONAL PLANTAIN MOFONGO RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat about 2 inches of oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or deep fryer to 350 F.
• While the oil is heating up, peel the plantains and cut into 1-inch rounds.
• Fry the plantains until golden and tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Remove cooked plantains from the pan or fryer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
• Put the garlic paste in a large bowl or mortar and add the fried plantains, in batches, if necessary. Mash thoroughly.
• Add the pork rinds. Continue to mash and mix until all of the ingredients are combined. Add salt to taste.
• Shape the mofongo into 4 balls and serve.
• Alternatively, you can make the mofongo into a half-dome shape using a small condiment bowl as a mold; push a portion of mofongo down to the bottom of the bowl.
• With the back of a spoon, smooth over and level off the mix.
• Then use the spoon to scrape around the bowl and remove the mash in a half-dome shape.

PUERTO RICAN SANCOCHO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat; add onion, garlic, cilantro, white pepper, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is browned and very tender, about 20 minutes. Add stew meat; cook and stir until meat is browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Pour enough water over meat mixture to fill pot 3/4 full; add tomato sauce and beef bouillon.
• Mix green beans, carrots, celery, chayote squash, white beans, cabbage, green banana, yellow plantain, llautias, potatoes, pumpkin, corn, and green bell pepper (in this order), cooking and stirring after each addition. Cook until all the vegetables are tender and stew has formed a rich broth, 2 to 3 hours. Add more water or salt if needed.

MONDONGO: PUERTO RICAN TRIPE STEW

Steps:

• Wash tripe tripe and calf's feet thoroughly under running water.
• drain and dry.
• Reserve calf's feet.
• Rub tripe with limes and place in a pot.
• Squeeze the rest of juice from limes over tripe.
• Add water to cover tripe by 2 inches and bring rapidly to a boil.
• Reduce heat to moderate and boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
• Drain and rinse well in cold running water.
• Cut tripe into strips 1+1/2 inch x 1 inch and place in a 10 quart kettle, together with calf's feet and rest of ingredients included in list"B".
• Bring rapidly to a boil, reduce heat to moderate, cover, and boil about 2 hours or until tripe is tender.
• Add garbanzo's, including liquid, and rest of ingredients included in list"C" and bring to a boil over over high heat.
• Reduce heat to moderate, cover, and boil until vegetables are fork-tender.
• Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Boil, uncovered, over moderate heat, until thickened to taste.

TRADITIONAL PUERTO RICAN MOFONGO (25 MINUTES!)

Steps:

• Start by heating your oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat. While the oil is heating, prep the plantains by peeling and slicing them into 1 inch slices.
• Once the oil is hot, gently add in the plantain slices and fry until golden brown and cooked through (about 10 minutes), making sure to move them around in the oil occasionally so they cook evenly. Once they are cooked, remove from the oil and dry on a paper towel lined plate.
• In a large bowl or mortar and pestle add the garlic cloves and chicharrón and mash (using the back of a wooden spoon if you don't have a mortar and pestle). Add in the fried plantain slices and mash those in with the garlic and pork rinds.
• To serve, fill a small bowl with your mofongo and flip onto a plate, to get that perfect dome-like shape. Top with cilantro, lime juice and serve with chicken broth or camarones guisados (shrimp in red sauce).