Cassava chips and salsa huancaina

As well as a side dish for cassava chips, salsa huancaina is also a great companion for potatoes or corn. Cassava is a plant with tuberous roots. The cassava we use usually comes frozen from India or Fiji.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 kg frozen whole cassava 
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying 
• sea salt, to season 

Salsa huancaina

• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped 
• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• 4 fresh long yellow chillies (aji amarillo), seeded and chopped 
• 2 red bird’s eye chillies, seeded and chopped 
• 400 g creamy fetta 
• 4 Sao or soda crackers 
• 100 ml evaporated milk, approximately

Instructions

Cook the cassava in lightly salted boiling water for about 20 minutes, or until soft. Drain. Cut into batons and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Meanwhile, to make the salsa huancaina, heat the oil in a small frying pan and cook the garlic, onion and chilli until soft. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Crumble in the fetta, Sao crackers and half of the milk, and blend until creamy and smooth. Season to taste and add more milk if mixture is too thick.

Fill a wok or deep-fryer one-third full of vegetable oil and heat to 200°C. Deep-fry cassava chips, in batches, until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towel. Season with salt and serve with huancaina salsa

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.