Trifongo (Puerto Rican Triple Mash)
Green plantain, sweet ripe plantain and yuca are boiled and fried, then mashed together with warm garlic oil and crispy pork cracklings. A rich, savoury-sweet mash that soaks up any stew or sauce beside it.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Peel and cut
Peel the green plantains, ripe plantain and yuca. Cut all three into similar-sized chunks, about 3–4 cm, so they cook evenly. Keep the ripe plantain pieces separate, since they will be fried, not boiled.
- 500 g green plantains
- 200 g ripe plantain
- 500 g yuca
✅ Done when: all pieces are cut into even, bite-sized chunks
Boil yuca and green plantain
Put the yuca and green plantain chunks into a large pot and cover with cold water by about 5 cm. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 25–30 minutes. Reserve a cup of the cooking water before draining; it carries flavour and helps loosen the mash later.
- 500 g yuca
- 500 g green plantains
- 1 tsp salt
✅ Done when: a knife slides into the yuca easily and it starts to flake apart at the edges
Fry the ripe plantain
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Make the garlic oil
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Mash everything together
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Shape and serve
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Peel and cut
Peel the green plantains, ripe plantain and yuca. Cut all three into similar-sized chunks, about 3–4 cm, so they cook evenly. Keep the ripe plantain pieces separate, since they will be fried, not boiled.
- 500 g green plantains
- 200 g ripe plantain
- 500 g yuca
✅ Done when: all pieces are cut into even, bite-sized chunks
Boil yuca and green plantain
Put the yuca and green plantain chunks into a large pot and cover with cold water by about 5 cm. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 25–30 minutes. Reserve a cup of the cooking water before draining; it carries flavour and helps loosen the mash later.
- 500 g yuca
- 500 g green plantains
- 1 tsp salt
✅ Done when: a knife slides into the yuca easily and it starts to flake apart at the edges
Fry the ripe plantain
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Make the garlic oil
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Mash everything together
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Shape and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Trifongo grew out of Puerto Rico's long tradition of mashing starchy staples with garlic, oil and bits of pork, a technique brought together from Taíno root-cooking, Spanish seasoning habits and African ways of frying and flavoring food. It builds on the simpler mofongo, which uses only green plantain, by adding ripe plantain for sweetness and yuca for a softer, earthier bite.
Families across the island have long made their own versions, varying the ratio of plantain to yuca and the amount of garlic and chicharrón depending on what was on hand. It remains a dish passed down through watching and doing rather than written recipes, with every cook's trifongo turning out a little different.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Trifongo is loved for the way it combines three humble starches into one deeply satisfying mash, offering more sweetness and softness than mofongo alone while still carrying that same garlicky, savory backbone.
💡 Fun Fact
The word "fongo" is believed to trace back to the African term for a mashed starch dish, with "tri-" added in Puerto Rico to mark the use of three different starches instead of one.
Puerto Rico
18.22°N, -66.59°W
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