Yuca frita is fried yucca. We pronounce this "YOO-ka", not "yuck-a". Yucca is also known as manioc or cassava and is very easy to cook.

Yucca has been a staple of the South American diet for thousands of years. Actually... it's eaten all over the world! Like potatoes, it's a starch and very filling but it is much more flavorful. Traditionally, yucca was eaten boiled, but over the centuries people began frying it too.

In all parts of Bolivia, yuca frita is served as a side dish, usually with grilled meat dishes, especially at barbecues (which in Bolivia we call "churrascos"). No churrasco is complete without fried yucca. It's like meat and yuca frita must be served together, otherwise your churrasco is incomplete.

In Andean Bolivia (the Western half of the country), fried yucca is usually served in much the same way as you would serve french fries - as a side with grilled chicken or hamburgers, although it is also served in large, soft chunks that are simply boiled.

In Tropical Bolivia (the Northern and Eastern portions of the country), fried yucca is a natural accompaniment to barbeques and generally people serve it with pickled red onions (sort of like relish in the US, but pink instead of green). You scoop up the red onion "relish" with a chunk of fried yucca and eat them together. It's so scrumptious!

Yuca frita is so tasty, so popular all over the world and so easy to make. Here's a video someone else made so that you can see the process. Written instructions are below the video.

DO NOT make this recipe without adult supervision.
It requires burning hot oil and is very dangerous!

Yucca is a tuber (root) with a very tough outer bark. You simply wash off the dirt and slice the outer bark off with a knife. Then wash the yucca again and cut it into sticks (much the same as carrot or celery sticks) but slightly thicker. (Your local supermarket may have yucca in the freezer section, in which case it's already peeled and cut into chunks).

In a pot of boiling water, boil your yucca pieces for about 30 minutes. You want the yucca to be soft enough to insert a fork easily, but not so soft that it becomes mushy or falls apart. It should be firm enough to keep its stick shape when fried.

After you've removed your boiled yucca from the water, put it into a strainer and allow it to drain and cool down enough to touch. Pat with a towel to remove any water drops (if you don't, they will cause your oil to splatter when you put the yucca into the hot oil and it may burn you).

In the center of the yucca sticks you'll find a thick stem. Remove it. Notice how your yucca, which used to be white, now has a slightly yellowish color?

Heat a pan of oil (about 2 inches deep) to 375 degrees (use a cooking thermometer). Then, simply fry the yucca sticks in the oil until golden brown (about 10 minutes).

Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel (or place on a cooling rack set over a cookie sheet) to drain the excess fat. Immediately sprinkle with salt before the oil is absorbed. Fried yucca should be served immediately and hot as it will be crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside.

If your yucca is not fluffy and soft on the inside you either sliced it too thin and it fried all the way through, or you fried it for too long and it fried all the way through.

Once the yuca frita has cooled, it can't be re-warmed again very well. It absorbs the oil and become soft and limp. You can certainly refrigerate left overs, but instead of warming them up in a microwave, I suggest placing them on a cookie sheet and re-warming in the oven so they regain their nice crunchy exterior.

Are you looking for an easier recipe?

Masaco de yuca is a yucca recipe from Eastern Bolivia. It involves cooking the yucca until it is very soft, mashing it, adding jerked pork, and shaping it into a dome. It is typically eaten at tea time, in the afternoon.

Yucca is versatile and can be prepared in many ways. You can simply chop it into large chunks, peel and boil it until it's soft like the inside of a baked potato. Serve it with salt and pepper or add lemon.

Mash your boiled yucca with some butter, salt and pepper and you'll have a side dish that is very similar to mashed potatoes, but much more tasty.

Chipilo de yuca are thin-cut deep fried yuca chips, similar to potato chips but thicker and crunchier like banana or plantain chips.