Yuca con mojo

Name: Yuca con mojo
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Cuba
Ingredients: 1 kg fresh or frozen cassava; 8 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste; 120 ml olive oil; 120 ml sour orange juice (or half orange, half lime); 1 onion, thinly sliced; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp dried oregano; Black pepper

Local name: Yuca con mojo

Cassava boiled until tender, then drenched in a Cuban sauce of garlic and sour orange bloomed in hot olive oil.

Published on 17 April 2026·Updated on 10 September 2026

VeganGluten-free#cassava#garlic#citrus#cuba#side

AI-generated image, not a photograph of the dish

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 35 min
Total: 50 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy

Method

Peel the cassava, cut it into 8 cm lengths and pull out the central fibre.
Boil in plenty of salted water for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pieces split and give under a fork.
Meanwhile, pound the garlic with the salt and oregano into a rough paste.
Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the onion and garlic paste, then pull the pan off the heat as soon as the garlic turns pale gold.
Pour in the citrus juice away from the heat. The sauce will hiss and come together.
Drain the cassava, arrange it on a warm dish and spoon the mojo over. Add pepper and serve at once.

Cassava holds a woody core that no amount of boiling softens. Split each length and pull that string out before it goes in the pot. Overcooked cassava turns gluey, so stop as soon as the pieces open.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

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Nutrition per serving

Calories: 692 kcal
Protein: 4.8 g
Fat: 28.5 g
Carbohydrate: 106.4 g
Fibre: 6.1 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

Is there anything to remove inside the cassava?

Yes, the fibrous core running through each piece. No amount of boiling softens it. Split the piece lengthways and pull that cord out before cooking, or it lodges between your teeth.

How do I know when to stop cooking it?

As soon as the pieces split open and give under a fork, around 25 to 30 minutes. Cooked further, cassava turns pasty and gluey, and there is no coming back from that.

What can replace bitter orange?

Equal parts orange and lime juice, as the recipe gives: that recovers the acidity and slight bitterness of bitter orange, which is hard to find outside Latin American grocers. Always add it off the heat, onto the hot garlic oil, so it sizzles and emulsifies.

Vegetarian and gluten free, from maize to teff
The kitchens that never needed wheat, from nixtamalised maize to teff and cassava, and the places gluten hides where nobody thinks to look.

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