Cassava Chips Recipe
Maria Bradford serves her cassava chips as a bar snack at her Sierra Leonean restaurant Shwen Shwen in Sevenoaks. Buttery, earthy and sweet, they’re tossed with truffle oil and served with garlic mayonnaise.
Ingredients
- 1kg cassava
- 1 tsp sea salt
- sunflower oil, for deep-frying
- 3 tbsp of white truffle oil
- 300g of mayonnaise
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- Parmesan, finely grated, to serve (optional)
Method · 1 h
- For the cassava chips, put some cold water into a large saucepan
- Peel the cassava and cut widthways into 5-8cm chunks. Using a sharp knife, cut lengthwise through the bark-like exterior and into the pink skin beneath. Place the tip of the knife under the skin to loosen it and pull off the skin and bark. Cut into chunky chip-sized pieces. As you work, rinse the cassava and put the pieces in the cold water to prevent discolouration
- When all the chips are cut to size, add the salt and bring a pan to the boil. Boil for about 25 minutes, until the cassava pieces are tender when pierced with a knife, then drain in a sieve and set aside until completely dry
- Meanwhile, make the garlic mayonnaise by combining the mayonnaise and garlic and mixing well
- Heat the oil for frying in a deep, heavy-based pan no more than half full. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a small breadcrumb into the hot oil. It should sizzle and turn brown in 20 seconds. Alternatively, preheat a deep fat fryer to 180°C
- Working in small batches so as not to overcrowd the pan, fry the cassava chips until nicely golden – 5-10 minutes per batch. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a baking sheet lined with kitchen paper and season with salt
- Toss the fried cassava chips with the white truffle oil. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise on the side and a grating of Parmesan on the top, if you like
