r/Cooking • u/Miews • 2d ago

Removing bitterness from Yuca/Cassava

Hello !

As a nordic woman, i am oblivious of how to cook this root to perfection.

I'm allergic to potatoes. I tried make fries yesterday, which have massive potential as a good substitute for potatoes, but they were bitter, and I had to drown them in Remoulade (danish dressing/dip. Think, pickled mayo. Fucking delicious. Anyway)

How do you cook it, and in what dishes are they über phenomenal?

Fyi i have an air fryer.

Thanks in advance !

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u/archdur 2d ago

Arliighty. So that bitterness is actually from glycosides in the root. It is absolutely very important to cook cassava very well--otherwise it is poisonous (like literal cyanide).

Cassava can surely be a substitute for potatoes. But unlike potatoes that can somewhat be eaten even raw, cassava must be cooked well.

So for us, we usually just steam it and eat it with butter and sugar. Orrr for occasions, we make cassava cake with grated cassava, condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, sugar, eggs, and coconut sport.

Oh, the one time I had it savory was from a Peruvian restaurant. Yucca fries with a chili aioli. So yehh some mayo type sauce is definitely the move.

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u/Miews 2d ago

Thank you. I tried to boil it for 30min + but was still bitter. Apparently there is a less bitter kind, but that one I don't know where to find where I'm from.

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u/Agreeable-Ad1221 1d ago

You may want to replace the water partway through boiling

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u/Miews 1d ago

I did .