Mangu is a Dominican dish that primarily involves using mashed plantains.
There are a number of different dishes that involve Mangu that range from fried cheese options, to dishes that also include avocado.
Mangu is meant to be an affordable dish that can be used with easily accessible grocery materials.
Remember, no two people make Mangu the same way, so embrace the different types of Mangu dishes you can try.
1. Mangu with Queso Frito & Salami
YouTuber Chef York shows viewers how to make Mangu with Queso Frito and Salami. Right out of the gate, this is a dish that is meant to be very easy to cook. It takes next to no time at all.
Here is what you will need to get started:
Note the measurements here don’t really matter for reasons you will understand once you are done preparing this recipe. This dish is very freeform so it is up to you to decide how much cheese or salami you add to the dish.
Prep
You want to first begin by filling the pot up 3/4th of the way with water. Place the filled pot on the stove and turn the heat up to medium high. You want to boil the water in the pot. While the water is preparing to boil in the pot, you then need to start cutting the plantains.
To prep the plantains, cut the ends of the plantains off first. Next, take a knife and run it along the long side of the plantain. After you run the knife along an edge of the plantain, you will be able to pull the skin of the plantain off, revealing the actual edible part of the plantain.
After you remove the skin from the plantains, cut the plantains in half. Place the cut plantains in the water and let them boil. The plantains will need to boil for around 20 minutes
After you boil the plantains, you want to start cutting up the salami. Depending on the role of the salami, you will be able to cut 10 to 15 pieces. You can cut up as much salami as you want or as little salami as you want. Once you are done cutting the salami, place it in the skillet and fry it.
One of the last prep steps is cutting the Queso Frito. Remove the packaging from the Tropical Queso de Freir. Cut the pieces of cheese into half-inch slices. Of course, you could also cut them into whatever form of slice you want, but rectangular half-inch slices work best. After cutting the cheese, you are ready to move on to cooking this Mangu dish.
Cook
If you want some flavor, pour a little bit of salt and sprinkle some Goyo adobe seasoning into the water. The measurements here are a bit relaxed so use your best judgment. After adding the seasonings, start boiling the plantains for around 20 minutes.
To cook the fried cheese and salami, pour some vegetable oil into a skillet. About 1/4th cup of vegetable oil should work. Heat the skillet up on medium high until the oil gets hot. Once the oil is hot place the sliced salami in the skillet and let it cook. It should take around 10 minutes for the salami to cook.
After frying the salami, you want to fry the cheese. Place the cheese in the oil that was used to fry the salami and let the cheese fry. Fry the cheese until it gets brown on one side, flip it, and let it brown more on the other side. By this time, you should be ready to finish the plantains.
Cut the heat off of the plantains and pour the water out of the pot it was cooked in. Pour around half a cup of milk into the pot and slice a moderate amount of butter. Next, use the masher to mash the plantains, milk, and butter together.
Serve
You are now ready to serve the Mangu. Place the Mangu on a plate, and place the salami next to the Mangu. Lastly, place the Queso Frito over the Mangu, and it’s ready to eat.
2. Mangu with Red Onions
YouTuber Yesenia Gonzalez has a nice twist on the Mangu dish that involves red onions. The red onions add a nice kick to the Mangu recipe we previously wrote about. You will need the following items to cook this dish:
This dish is very similar to the first dish on this list, but with a few twists.
For example, if you don’t have a masher, you can simply use a cup to mash the plantains. You also don’t need to use milk as you could use a bit of water to mash the plantains.
Prep
The only difference between this recipe and the first recipe is the preparation of the onions. Prepare the plantains, salami, and Tropical Queso de Frier as you did with the first recipe. Next, you need to prepare the red onions.
To prep the red onions, you must marinate them in vinegar and salt. Peel the red onions and place them in a bowl. Next, pour around ¼ cup of vinegar into the bowl and cook it. Pour a bit of salt over the red onions and spread the vinegar over the onions. Let the onions marinate for around 20 minutes.
Cook
Cook the salami and cheese the same way you cooked them in the first recipe. The plantains are cooked slightly differently here since you will be using water instead of milk. You will also need to fry the red onions. To fry the red onions, place them in the skillet on low to medium heat. You can fry them for around 5 minutes until they begin to darken in color.
For cooking the the plantains, you still want to boil them in water for 15 to 20 minutes. Place the cooked plantains into a large bowl, and keep the plantain water. Add 3 tablespoons of butter to the large bowl and begin mashing the plantains with a large cup. A dinner glass can do the trick here. After mashing the plantains, add 3 mixing spoons worth of water from the plantain water, and add in the onions. Mash well again until the Mangu has the consistency of mashed potatoes.
Serve
After you cook the Mangu, you can serve it next to the fried cheese and salami. The red onions can either be mixed in with the Mangu, or they can be served on top of the Mangu.
3. Mangu Y Huevo
This mangu dish is a combination of all of the Mangu dishes we have written about so far.
Fried cheese and salami?
Most definitely.
Fried red onions are also accounted for.
What makes this dish even more special is the addition of eggs!
This is an excellent Mangu dish for maximum protein in the morning. You will need the following items:
YouTuber, Providencia Silva, has an excellent video covering how to cook this excellent meal.
Prep
Prep this dish similarly to prepping the first Mangu dish we listed.
Cook
The main addition to the Mangu dish we see here is the frying of the eggs. Cook the eggs to your liking. Heat up your skillet on low and place the eggs inside of the skillet. Leave the sunny side up and leave the egg on the skillet until it cooks through.
Serve
When you serve this dish, plate the Mangu in the center of the plate. Next, arrange the fried cheese and salami around the Mangu. Add the eggs below the mangu and then place the fried red onions either on the Mangu or on the side of the Mangu.
Mangu Is a Versatile Dish
Mangu is a Dominican dish that is very versatile. You can eat Mangu for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This tasty dish is meant to be easy to prepare and quite affordable.
Don’t worry about the measurements when it comes to Mangu dishes, these are meant to be prepared in a simple fashion. This dish can also be eaten in most seasons and can serve as a good meal to keep in rotation.
Mangu with Queso Frito and Salami, Mangu with red onions, and Mangu Y Huevos, are all Mangu dishes you need to try.
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