Making “french fries” out of Cassava/Yuca root

Question

I'm surprised this question isn't already on here, maybe I missed it...

To start, had my first taste of yucca cooked as a sort of alternative french fry at a Bolivian restaurant, and it was delicious. Reminded me of a tastier, sweeter french fry. So inspired by this, I bought some myself and attempted to replicate it, but utterly failed.

What is the best way to replicate the recipe? After watching a video on youtube of how to prepare it, I deep fried it in oil, but it overcooked much too quickly.

UPDATE:

I tried out the selected answer's recipe yesterday, and it worked fantastic. I did a few things differently though, mainly due to time constraints. Full recipe:

1. Cut off brown skin.
2. Slice into steak fry slices
3. Boil for 10mn (I would suggest less, some thinner slices became too soft)
4. Blanch (I only had time for 20-30 mn, but I'd go with the full hr if you have the time)
5. Heat Peanut oil (Med-High) in deep cooking pot (can get messy) and cook until brown.
6. Sprinkle with salt

Note: The answered recipe suggests frying until golden/golden brown, but I found a darker fry to be much tastier!

Asked by JWiley

Answer

This is how my mom prepares it (she's from Brazil, so it might be a tad different):

1. Cut off all the dark brown skin
2. Wash it and put it into a pot of water and bring to a boil
3. Boil for about 10 minutes (it should still be slightly firm, but not hard)
4. Cut it up into french-fry sized pieces
5. Put the slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour
6. Heat oil, fry them for about 10 minutes (until golden brown)
7. Sprinkle with salt

Steps 1-5 can be done ahead of time and you just pull out what you need from the freezer to fry. I have not personally made these, but I ate hers a lot and they were fantastic!

Answered by Michael

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