Concon Cheat (& World Famous Yucca Fritters)

dawnwil

Bronze
Aug 27, 2003
722
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Yucca fritters are my favorite food now, thanks to the pioneering efforts of Escott in his quest for the perfect-healthy-modern yucca fritter. Alberto of Anoeca tried them one evening during a gathering and he was inspired to say that if the rest of the world were to know these yucca fritters, the DR would become known for its modern cuisine in a health conscious world and yucca would become the next great export. It would seem he's a yucca fan as well. But, wow, what a commendation! I don't remember if I told the chef about Alberto's comment; he would be pleased to know. Naw, never mind. He's already convinced they're world famous.

HEY-- all they need now is a BANNER from Carina. :) hint hint

but I digress...

While cooking my own vegetarian yucca fritters one day-- only a touch of oil but mostly PAM, NO SALT, it occurred to me to reheat some rice and see if I could make it fresh and soft again. Always too much rice has been made Dominican style and leftovers end up in the fridge, where the stuff becomes dry and hard. blech.

I sprinkled a few drops of water and partially covered the frying pan. Because the pan sits crookedly on that burner, the oil leaked over to the rice . Voila... nice soft rice again. And almost a golden bottom crust.

It got me thinking. I experimented more... some oil for the crispy bottom and some water for the soft top, pan cover on and off and on again as needed, a slow pan fry and voila: Concon Cheat.

Or is this some kind of faux pas punishable by the DR Kitchen Gods? Chiri? Pib?

btw, it has inspired an entirely new Dominican dish. Now I ask that my habichuelas are prepared soupy with lots of broth and little finca fresh grape tomatoes, thin sliced aujies, and lots and lots of cilantro. NO SALT.

A few bite size pieces of Cheat Concon are thrown into a bowl; close to a cup of finca fresh boiled aujama is added in little chunks and a ladle of soupy beans is poured over. Finally, a good squirt of the obligatory hot sauce (Ranchero Picante), the works is nuked ... and this is the food I eat almost daily now, second only to ...uh huh, yucca fritters.

Hey Juanita, if you see this: those fritters do just fine with only Pam, no oil, and that sure saves on the paper towels, unlike the night of your barbecue. :)Just wait til you try Fritters d'Escott in July!! No, that's not presumptious, from what I've seen, no one makes it alive out of this town without a yucca fritter dinner.

d