Mangú
Mangú is one of the best-known Dominican breakfasts: a smooth mash of boiled green plantains, beaten with butter and their cooking water, topped with red onion pickled in vinegar. It tastes somewhere between mashed potato and polenta, only denser, and the sour onion cuts its mildness. The classic set-up, “los tres golpes” — three hits — is mangú with a fried egg, fried cheese and fried salami. The secret to smoothness: mash the plantains hot and keep adding cooking water.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Preparation 10 min
- Boiling the plantains 25 min
- Pickled onion 10 min
- Mashing 10 min
- Eggs 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 donePeel the plantains
Trim the ends, score the skin lengthwise in three places and lift it off with your thumb under running water. Green plantain skin clings and stains your fingers — rubbing your hands with oil helps.
Ingredients: 4 pcs green plantains (about 250 g each) · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 1500 ml water for boiling
Score lengthwise and the skin comes off in strips.Boil the plantains
Cut each plantain into 3 pieces, put them in a pot of about 3 litres, cover with salted water and boil for 20–25 minutes, until a fork slides in easily.
Ingredients: 4 pcs green plantains (about 250 g each) · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 1500 ml water for boiling
Pickle the onion
Slice the onion into thin rings. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and fry 2 minutes, pour in the vinegar, add the salt, cover and cook gently for 5 minutes, until soft and pink. Add a spoonful of water if the vinegar boils away.
Ingredients: 1 pcs red onion · 3 tbsp white wine vinegar · 1 tbsp oil · ¼ tsp salt
Vinegar softens the onion and turns it pink.Drain
Drain the plantains, keeping 250 ml of the cooking water. That is what sets the texture of the mash.
Ingredients: 4 pcs green plantains (about 250 g each) · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 1500 ml water for boiling
Mash
Mash the hot plantains with the butter, adding the hot cooking water little by little, until smooth and soft. Do not use a blender — it turns gluey.
Ingredients: 4 pcs green plantains (about 250 g each) · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 1500 ml water for boiling
A masher, never a blender.Season
Season with salt. The mash should hold its shape on a spoon but not be stiff — add more water if it is.
Ingredients: 4 pcs green plantains (about 250 g each) · 30 g butter · 1 tsp salt · 1500 ml water for boiling
Fry the eggs
Fry the eggs in the tablespoon of oil until the whites are set. If you leave the yolk runny, remember it is not safe for children, pregnant women, the elderly or anyone immunocompromised — fry theirs on both sides until the yolk is firm.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 1 tbsp oil for frying the eggs
Serve
Mound the mash on plates, cover with the pickled onion and its vinegar and serve with the eggs. Mangú is eaten warm, straight away.
Ingredients: 1 pcs red onion · 3 tbsp white wine vinegar · 1 tbsp oil · ¼ tsp salt
Before you start
Green, not yellow
Mangú needs completely green, hard plantains — look for them in Latin American, African and Asian shops, and increasingly in large supermarkets. Ripe yellow or black ones are sweet and turn into a sticky sweet paste — those are for frying as maduros.
Los tres golpes
The full Dominican plate is mangú with egg, fried queso de freír (halloumi stands in) and fried salami. Counting 60 g of cheese and 40 g of salami per person, that brings a serving to about 820 kcal.
Storage
The mash is best fresh — it stiffens as it cools. Reheat it in a pan with a splash of water and a knob of butter, beating hard.
