Yuca, farm to table

Yuca, not to be confused with yucca, a desert plant commonly found in the US Southwest, is a common crop in the Ecuadorian subtropics. Ecuadorians plant and harvest yuca for both animal and human consumption. They feed it to pigs and chickens, and people eat it in a variety of ways: in soups, boiled like potatoes, fried like french fries, made into tortillas (tortillas here are more what we would call patties back home), and made into tamales (steamed in banana leaves, sweetened with panela, served warm stuffed with cheese). They also make yuca pancakes and pan de yuca (yuca bread).

The actual yuca plant is easily identifiable: tall skinny branches with long green leaves splayed out almost into a circular shape. The yuca leaves are somewhat similar in appearance to papaya and maple leaves; they remind me of a hand making a high five and a also a bit like a marijuana leaf. But yuca is a root vegetable, so the edible part of the plant lives below ground.

We have a ton of yuca plants on the property we are living on, and Dillon recently pulled some up and requested I prepare it. Yuca is not exactly an easy vegetable to prepare. The tough outer skin (more bark-like than skin-like) has to be hacked off with a sharp knife and/or machete, though if it is very young, you can peel the bark away once you cut into it. Removing the bark leaves behind a naked white tuber, which has to be hacked (it is super hard to cut) into pieces; then, the fibrous center --like the core of a carrot but tougher -- has to be removed. By the time you get to that part, the yuca and your hands are usually both covered in dirt, so a good washing is in order.

I love yuca, but it is definitely an acquired taste. I most enjoy it in soups and don't mind it fried and salted. It is pretty bland but has a bit of a woody flavor (more flavorful than potatoes), with an unusual fibrous consistency, similar to a turnip or a rutabaga. As a side note, we recently had some delicious pan de yuca at an empanada place in La Maná. The bread is served as individual little spheres, about the size of a golf ball; it is heavy but delicious, with a crispy outside and squishy inside, best eaten hot straight out of the oven.

I told Dillon I would happily prepare him fried yuca if he peeled them for me (I hate peeling them). Since the ones he harvested were super young, and he quite enjoys the machete that is living on our porch, he has been more than willing to oblige. His willingness only increased after he had his first plate of fried yuca with ketchup. Fried yuca, he says, rates as "as good as or better than most french fries."

We hope you enjoy the photos of today's small yuca harvest: from farm to table.

The yuca plant

Yuca in our yard

What does this leaf remind you of?

Dillon’s harvest (and a machete) 

Peeling the skin/bark 

In the frying pan

Happy harvester and eater

Yuca frita (fried yuca)