Mofongo con Camarones (Mashed Plantains with Shrimp)

Mofongo con Camarones is a traditional Puerto Rican dish, that is easy to make, and is filled with deliciousness flavor!

What is Mofongo?

That round yellow ball that resembles some sort of mashed potatoes is mashed fried plantains. Mofongo is a traditional food dish from Puerto Rico that has fried plantains as the star of the dish. Similar to tostones, the green plantains are fried then mashed in a wooden pilón with garlic and oil.

The method of making this food dish dates back to Africa and was introduced to the Caribbean islands as a recipe called “fufu“. It originally was made by boiling starchy foods such as cassava and plantain, and then mashed into a dough. Cubans and Dominicans use this method in their own dishes called “fufu de plátano” and “mangú“.

However, Puerto Ricans fry the starchy green plantain instead of boiling prior to mashing. This frying method and including pork cracklings are unique to Puerto Rico’s mofongo recipe. Different types of meat or seafood are usually packed inside or spread around the mofongo.

How To Make Shrimp Mofongo?

Making mofongo is similar to making tostones, the difference being that tostones are fried once more after you flatten it with a tostonera. With mofongo, you use a pilón to mash those golden plantain round slices instead of flattening and frying twice. Heres our recipe showing you how tostones are made.

If there’s one thing you need to make authentic mofongo – it is a pilón. What is a pilón? It is a wooden mortar and pestle that is used throughout the Caribbean Islands to crush and grind various ingredients. I highly recommend everyone to purchase one for not only mofongo but for various other recipes that call for it. Here is a wooden pilón for sale on Amazon if you can’t find one at your nearest store.

Also, please grab a large pilón. I made a huge mistake in the past and ordered a VERY small pilón that made it impossible to mash those fried plantains. Talk about a waste of time. 😡

Mofongo con Camarones is best served immediately. 

In this tasty mofongo with shrimp recipe, I personally cut back on the garlic use while mashing the fried plantains because of the shrimp sauce already including a decent amount. Speaking of shrimp sauce, you will LOVE this tomato-based sauce. Especially when you add some of our delicious sofrito into it. This can’t be an authentic Puerto Rican recipe without the sofrito. No exceptions! 🙂

It is also traditional to add chopped up chicharrónes into the mofongo, but it can be replaced with bacon if your not a fan or just can’t seem to find chicharrónes at your local store. However, this mofongo recipe can be a healthy vegan/vegetarian dish since fried plantain is still delicious by itself.

Mofongo con Camarones (Mashed Plantains with Shrimp)

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Caribbean, Puerto Rican

Keyword: caribbean food, plantain, puerto rican recipe, sofrito

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Resting Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 4 people

Mofongo con Camarones is a traditional Puerto Rican dish, that is easy to make, and is filled with deliciousness flavor!

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Ingredients

• 4 whole green plantains
• 1 pound medium shrimp peeled & deveined
• 10 pieces chicharrónes
• 2 tbsp sofrito
• 2 tsp garlic minced
• 1/3 cup onion chopped
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• vegetable oil for frying
• cilantro for garnish
• salt for taste

Instructions

1. Begin by heating a medium frying pan of three teaspoons of oil. Add the sofrito, garlic, and onion into the pan over high heat. Sauté and stir the ingredients for three to five minutes.

2. Next, lower the heat to simmer and pour the tomato sauce into the frying pan. Also, stir in the medium shrimp and water. Set aside and stir occasionally. Once shrimp are pink, place heat to lowest setting. 

3. Heat frying oil in a separate large pan. Place piece by piece of the chicharrónes and deep fry them. Set aside over a wire rack or bowl with a paper towel to cool and soak remaining oil. 

4. Peel and chop the green plantains into 1-inch slices. Then, fry the green plantain slices until golden color. Set aside over wire rack. Place three to five fried plantain slices inside pilón while adding chopped up chicharrónes and salt. Mash the ingredients together. You may add a little bit of the cooked shrimp liquid while mashing if the mofongo is too dry. However, make sure mofongo is dry enough to shape. 

5. Finally, continue until desired mofongo serving amount inside pilón. While serving, shape mofongo into a ball and place onto the plate and flatten the top. Place shrimp over mofongo and pour liquid over the shrimp. Garnish with cilantro and salt for taste.

Recipe Notes

1. Chicharrónes are optional or can be replaced by bacon or ham.
2. Minced garlic is usually mashed in the mofongo with chicharrónes, but since the shrimp sauce is very garlicky; I prefer no additional garlic. 
3. If shrimp sauce is too thick for preference, you may add a little bit of water.
4. It is best served while mofongo is still hot.