Destination
Arequipa
The story
Yuquitas are Peru's chunkier, more flavour-dense answer to French fries: batons of cassava (yuca) parboiled until just tender, then deep-fried until the outside is deep golden and crackly and the inside is soft and fluffy. Served with a small dish of salsa huancaína (creamy ají amarillo cheese sauce) or salsa criolla for dipping. Sold at every Amazonian and coastal Peruvian restaurant, at every fonda menu as a side, and at every home for after-school snacks. The dish is a staple of the Peruvian Amazon (Iquitos, Pucallpa) where yuca is the primary starch, and has spread to Lima and other coastal cities as an accompaniment.
Method
If using fresh: cut the yuca into 8cm segments. Peel off the tough brown outer bark and the pink second layer under it — leave only the white flesh. Cut each segment lengthways into 4 thick batons. Remove the tough fibrous core from the middle of each baton (a small sliver). If using frozen: skip the prep and boil straight from frozen.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with the salt and oil. Add the yuca. Boil 15 to 18 minutes (or 22 minutes from frozen) until fork-tender but not falling apart. Drain and cool 10 minutes on a rack.
Blend all salsa huancaína ingredients in a blender to a smooth, spoonable cream sauce. Adjust with more milk if too thick, more lime if too flat.
Warm the frying oil in a deep heavy pot to 180C.
Working in batches of 5 or 6, fry the boiled yuca batons 3 minutes per side, turning once, until deep golden and crisp. The outside should sound hollow when tapped.
Lift onto a wire rack (not paper). Immediately season with sea salt while glistening.
Let rest on the rack 90 seconds so the outside firms into a proper crackly crust before serving.
Pile the yuquitas on a warm platter. Serve with salsa huancaína, salsa criolla or ají verde in small dishes for dipping. Scatter with chopped coriander and a lime wedge. Eat with fingers or a fork.
Tips
- Remove the fibrous core. Yuca has a tough woody fibre running through the middle of each baton. Cut it out with the tip of a knife before boiling — otherwise you get a rubbery centre.
- Boil until fork-tender, not soft. Overcooked yuca falls apart when it hits the fryer. Fifteen to eighteen minutes is the sweet spot.
- 180C oil is the target. Cooler oil gives you greasy, pale yuquitas; hotter burns the outside before the inside heats through.
- Rack, not paper. Draining on a wire rack keeps the base crisp. Paper towel makes the underside soggy.
- Salsa huancaína is the classical partner. If you're only making one dipping sauce, make huancaína.
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