Fried Cassava and Peanut Sauce

Fried cassava finds its origins in South America. The dish is enjoyed in various ways, all over the continent. Our recipe is based on a Surinamese version of the dish in which the fried cassava is paired with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. Liked by many, it’s a simple but delicious welcoming snack that will be devoured! The cassava recipe makes 4 servings and will take about 30 to 45 minutes to prepare. The peanut sauce makes about 4 to 5 servings and takes about 35 minutes to prepare.

Fried Cassava

Ingredients

• 900 grams of Cassava root (or about 5 medium-sized roots)
• Salt
• Vegetable oil (between 0.5 litres or 1 litre, depending on the size of your pan)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Be sure to add salt to this water, as it will flavour the cassava.

2. Peel your cassava roots and cut them into thick strips, about 3 cm or 1 inch. (Note: using a vegetable peeler makes peeling the skin a lot easier.)

3. Boil the cassava in the salted water.

4. Once the cassava is fork tender you can take it out. Drain the cassava and spread them out on a kitchen towel. This will allow them to cool and get rid of excess moisture. (Note: fork tender means you can easily pierce the cassava with a fork. It does not need to crumble the root, it just needs to be able to pierce through it.)

5. Heat up vegetable oil in a deep pan. You will be deep frying the cassava, so be sure to use a lot of oil.

6. Add the cassava to the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan and only add a few pieces of cassava at a time. 

7. Once the cassava is golden brown, take them out of the oil and lay them out on a plate lined with a few paper towels to drain off any excess oil.

8. And you’re done! Enjoy your fried cassava!  (Note: It’s also good with ketchup if you do not like peanut sauce.)

A Simple, Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup of peanut butter (unsweetened)
• ⅓  cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of ginger syrup
• ½  tablespoon of dark brown sugar 
• 2 chili peppers (you can add more or less depending on how spicy you like it)

1. Cut up your chili into small pieces. (Feel free to remove the seeds if you don’t like too much spice.)

2. Heat up a bit of oil in a pan and add the pieces of chili. Fry them until fragrant.

3. Once the chili is fragrant, lower the heat and add your peanut butter. Stir well until the chilis and the peanut butter are well combined.

4. Add the soy sauce, sugar, ginger syrup, water and mix well. You know you’re done stirring once the sugar has completely dissolved. 

5. Keep stirring over low to medium heat until the sauce is thick (like porridge). If your sauce is too runny, add some more peanut butter, if your sauce is too thick, add a bit of water. During this process you can add a bit of salt to taste.

6. Once your sauce has reached your desired consistency, you can take it off the heat and serve it in a bowl alongside your fried cassava. 

Eet smakelijk!

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