Best Yuca Recipe - How to Cook Cassava Root
alrighty Chef Buck here and today we're going
to cook up a big old root
it's a giant enormous dangerous weapon
it's often got like a waxy coating on it
because they put that coating on to
preserve it when they're shipping it
The first thing we're going to do
is cut off the end
oh I'm not strong enough
but then I became strong enough
we're going to cut off the ends and then
we're going to cut it into
manageable sizes
that are easier to handle
and then we are
going to cut off the skin because the
skin is inedible you don't want to peel
it off with a peeler
because it's kind of thick and
easier to whack it off with a knife and
just slice the skin off like this
yuca it needs to be cooked don't want to
eat this stuff raw so the first thing
we're going to do is boil it
so we've got all the skin off
and now we're going to boil
it at that point it could be ready to
eat but we're not going to boil it that
long
we're going to boil it until it's soft
and then we're gonna split in half and
there is a fibrous stem
that runs through the yuca and we're
going to take that out but we're going
to cook this in a two-step stage so
we're going to boil the first
soften it up but not too soft because
then we're going to cook in the skillet
a little bit so let's take our yuca
over here and we're going to put it in
boiling water
boom boom
so we're going to bring it to a boil
do a little dance for us Buck
but then I'll have to make a little love and get down tonight....and that just sounds like a lot of work
I brought the pan up to a
bubble I got it reduced down to a simmer
I'll cover it and let it cook for about
15 or 20 minutes
it's been going about 25 minutes ...a little bit longer than I usually
do these pieces are so big
so you want to adjust depending on the
size of the pieces but the thing
is you don't want to be overcooked yuca
cook just enough so my fork starts
to slide in there easily then it's ready
to come out because i don't want it to be
mushy ...now if I cook this longer
for another 10
minutes and it'll be done then i can just
put some salt and pepper and lemon juice
on there but i just want it
to where a fork will go easily go thru
then i'm going to take it off
and strain
it out of hot water and then let it cool
down for a few minutes before we can
handle it ....my yuca is still
steaming away a little bit but it's not
cool enough to handle i'm going to go
ahead and go through and pull out this
stem that's in the center of the yuca
it will break apart and you can just
pull it out of your hand or you can cut
it out with the knife because this is
inedible and then we'll go ahead and
take the time here and just cut this
into the size pieces that we want to
saute ...but that's why i like to boil it in
the larger sizes because it's just
easier to handle and get that stem out
so like a lot of times when it's
cooking it will break apart but then you
have a piece like this here that didn't
break apart but you can just pull it
apart and the stem is on that side not
on this side here but you can cut
through and see that it's not there
boom boom that but there is it came out
quite easily... but this yuca its kind of
cooked through
it's still a little up firm I mean if we
were just going to eat this just right
now we would want it to have cooked a
little bit longer ...it's almost finished
cooking...now we'll finish
it in a skillet saute a little
onion and garlic but very starchy it
just has a nice flavor it has a terrific
texture it's just a little bit different
than a potato
alright so now I got my yuca cut up
into some nice chunky pieces
still pretty firm
now I've got a skillet
on medium-high heat I'm going to melt a
little bit of oil ...i used to cook this
dish with just olive oil ...I'm gonna finish
it up with olive oil but i'm going to
use coconut oil to start with ...we started
sautéing things with coconut oil
so i'm going to use two different oils
but use whatever kind of oil
you like... but i recommend putting olive
oil in this dish when it's finished ...now
cumin is key for this dish... so we're
going to use lots of cumin you know like
2-3 tablespoons
I think that's about all the cumin I've left in
here ...so i'm probably going to
use all of that
now this is optional... we're going to
put cumin powder cause I like
cumin flavor but i'm going to go ahead
and add cumin seeds just for some texture
you know they're going to start to crack
brown right away but you don't want to
overcook though just throw them in there
then i'm going to toss in my onion ...crazy
amount of onions but I got a crazy
amount of yuca
lots of garlic
I'll turn my heat down to
medium ...I'll
saute this onion and garlic up a few minutes
I probably should have put this in earlier but
it's never too late to get some crushed
red pepper for a little bit of spice
that's optional
put in some salt
and lots of cumin
lot's of it
I'll throw my yuca in there
this is why you don't want
yuca to be overcooked ...you don't
want to boil it so long that when
you put in a skillet just going to turn
to mush and fall apart ...mix it up
with that garlic and onions that cumin
I'm going to go ahead and add
olive oil in here
not gonna be shy with it
bit more salt in there... because yuca
like potato... can use a lot of salt
let it cook for
another five minutes ...and you
can add a splash of
water if it needs it so it doesn't
get overly dry but don't put too much
water ... because you don't want it
is super wet
cook away here for a few minutes
give it an occasional stir ...it's been a few
minutes and i think i'm calling it quits
looks pretty good to me
got some nice mushy bits to it but I
didn't overcook the yuca when I boiled
it so it's got some nice firm pieces... i'm going
to go ahead and turn the heat off and i
went ahead and zested a lemon
I'll throw my lemon zest in there
and then I'm going to squeeze the juice
of one lemon all throughout here
lemon juice has a nice little bit of
flavor .... you add some citrus bling
always serve this with lamb or we used
to do stuffed peppers ...for a
vegetarian dish and serve it
with this yuca... because this is so
filling ...so there you have a super-duper
flavorful and very easy to prepare
rib-sticking yuca dish
there's a link down below subscribe
because all the cool kids are doing it
appreciate your comments and taking the
time to watch the video we
will see in the future
Check out this easy yuca recipe. Yuca is a popular root that makes a nice change from your average potato dish. Me and CG have been cooking up yuca with garlic and onion for years, inspired by our favorite Cuban restaurants in Florida. The combo of yuca, garlic, onion, and cumin will knock your socks off, so check out the video and give this yuca recipe a try. A printable copy of this Yuca Recipe and more tips on how to prepare it can be found at http://www.myfoodchannel.com/yuca-recipe/ Give this easy cassave recipe a try and let me know what you think, and for more recipes check out the Chef Buck playlist: http://www.youtube.com/user/FromUnderTheRock and to print all recipes visit my website at http://www.myfoodchannel.com/ Connect with this media to catch all of my videos...thanks: MY OTHER YOUTUBE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/buckredbuck FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/buckredbuck TWITTER https://twitter.com/buckredbuck INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/buckredbuck/ GOOGLE+ http://plus.google.com/u/0/109193261972985167770/posts PRINT RECIPES AT MY WEBSITE: http://www.myfoodchannel.com/ RECIPE PLAYLISTS: http://www.youtube.com/user/FromUnderTheRock Ingredients for this Cuban-Inspired Yuca Recipe YUCA (about 1 lb.) 1 Lg ONION (diced) 5-10 cloves GARLIC (finely chopped) OIL for sauteing the onion and garlic RED PEPPER FLAKES to taste 2-3 Tbsp CUMIN ½ cup OLIVE OIL juice of 1 LEMON and zest SALT to taste CUMIN SEEDS (1 tsp, optional) …I’ve got lots of yuca, so in the video I’m doubling this recipe How To Cook Yuca Recipe Using a sharp knife, cut the yuca into manageable sizes and carefully cut away the outer skin of the yuca root. The skin is inedible and should be discarded. Place yuca pieces into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Yuca should never be eaten uncooked. Reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes or until yuca root can be pierced easily with a fork. Do not overcook! Yuca pieces should not be mushy. Drain yuca and cool with water. Remove fibrous stem from center of root and cut into 1 inch chunks. Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic and onion and let simmer for a several minutes. Add red pepper flakes, cumin, and salt to taste. Add yuca. Mix and allow all to simmer for 5 minutes. Give the yuca an occasional stir. Add a bit of water if needed, but not too much. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and zest. And that's it! Yucca is an excellent substitute for potato. It goes great with any meat entree, and makes a great vegetarian meal when paired with stuffed peppers and a crisp green salad. Give this yuca recipe a try and let me know what you think, and bon appetit! And if you wanna try out the stuffed peppers with yuca, check out this jalapeno poppers recipe as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Le6tRgXd8 Thanks for checking the yuca recipe and video out. If you liked it, share it with your friends and family. I appreciate it! --Chef Buck