Recipe Adaptation from: Mofongo with Mojo Shrimp

About

The original recipe: Mofongo with Mojo Shrimp is an amazing dish from Ronny Lvovski, a food blogger and creator of Cook Primal Gourmet. The recipe itself doesn’t really need any edits, except for the blaring obvious fact that it is not Kosher. Shrimp is not a kosher sea creature and Mofongo is generally made with pork. However, after watching his video tutorial of this recipe on Instagram it looked too good to pass up. I knew I needed to adapt this into something Kosher friendly. The difficulty here was finding a suitable alternative to the shrimp. White fish may have been an easy swap, but my freezer is full of chicken breasts, so that’s where I started.

Swapping chicken and shrimp is not always straight forward. Shrimp has a very delicate and light flavor that tends to need less seasoning than chicken in general. Simply sautéing the chicken in the mojo sauce did not produce the same flavor I would expect from the shrimp. However, the mojo sauce itself is full of citrus, oils, garlic and spices. This makes it an excellent marinade. Soaking the chicken in this for several hours or overnight created that stronger pop of garlic and citrus on the tongue that I was searching for. Since it’s still summer time, what better to make with marinated chicken than Kabobs?? And you know the best thing about kabobs? They are easy to customize, so even the pickiest of your eaters can be happy with this meal with minimal effort! To finish it off, I’ll walk you through a simple swap for the pork rinds in the mofongo that will perfectly pair with these kabobs!

Ingredients

For the Mojo

You can get mojo sauce at the store, but having read many labels, I’ve yet to find a whole30 compliant option. However, if this is not a factor for you, you can find a nice selection in the Latino section of most larger grocery stores. If you want to make your own, I use this recipe. It’s really quite simple as you just add all the ingredients to a sauce pan and cook until the garlic is tender/golden. Sometimes I use less oil than called for, but that’s just my personal preference to reduce the fat content of my food.

For the Mofongo

Plantains: These are the heart of this recipe, and there really isn’t a swap for these. No, do not use bananas. You will also want to make sure you get green plantains to ensure that you get the right flavor profile.

Jalapeno: I like to use a whole jalapeno seeds and all, because I LOVE spicy food. However, if you’re looking to reduce the amount of spice, use half of a pepper. You can also remove the seeds and rinse the pepper prior to mincing it. This will remove most of the oils and reduce the spice. I would not recommend eliminating this ingredient all together as it will alter the taste of the dish, but if you follow the directions above, that should significantly reduce the amount of heat this ingredient brings to the table

Turkey Bacon: I always get uncured turkey bacon. If you’re looking for a whole30 approved brand, Apple Gate has a really tasty turkey bacon that is uncured and has no added sugars. I have never had good results cooking turkey bacon and then crumbling it, it just does not behave the same as pork bacon. So I recommend pre-chopping it into small pieces then cooking it until crispy. This will give you the right consistency and is honestly the easiest method I have found for any recipe calling for bacon crumbles.

For the Kabobs:

Veggies: There is no hard and set type of vegetable you have to use for these kabobs. My go to’s generally include: Red onion, jalapeno’s, bell pepper, and squash. I received a small zucchini in my Misfit Markets box this week, so that’s what I used.

Fruit: Don’t be afraid to add fruit to your kabobs as well. I personally LOVE pineapple mixed in with my chicken kabobs of almost any kind. This also tends to go over well with kids who may not always want to eat as many vegetables. I remember my mom making me a special chicken and pineapple only kabob back in the days before I started eating peppers. We all start somewhere!

Cooking Instructions

Kabobs:

Combine 1-2 lbs of chicken, cubed, with 1/4 cup of mojo sauce, 1 tsp smoked paprika, and 1/2 tsp salt. Place in fridge for at least 1 hour, though I prefer to marinade it overnight.

Chop your vegetables into thick slices. The trick with kabobs is trying to keep everything the same size. Smaller pieces will cook faster, and vise verse, so keeping everything a similar size will help it all to cook evenly. As a good rule of thumb I try to keep all my pieces around 1″ and less than 2″ in diameter.

For zucchini: Slice everything into ~1/4 inch slices then cut in half

If using onion, break up the pieces and use 1-2 layers at a time. This will help you not get a large chunk of raw onion on your kabob.

To make the kabobs simply thread chicken alternating with the vegetables/fruit as desired until your stick is full. For me this recipe usually makes about 8-10 kabobs.

For the Oven: Preheat oven to 400F. In a baking tray lined with parchment paper, arrange kabobs with at least 1 inch of space between them. Roast in oven for ~15 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F

For the Grill: Place on grill and cook, rotating as needed, until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F.

Mofongo

Start with your turkey bacon. I will partially thaw the pack, place the whole thing on my cutting board and chop it into small pieces. You do not have to go crazy mincing this, as it will cook down and shrink, you just want it cut into even squares, about 1/4 inch or so in diameter.

In a large skillet on medium high heat add 2 Tbsp coconut oil. Once oil it hot, but before it starts to smoke add the chopped turkey bacon. Cook the bacon until all the pieces are browned and crispy. Remove from pan and place in a large mixing bowl. Save your coconut oil.

While the bacon is cooking, this is a great time to prepare the rest of your ingredients. Peel your plantains and chop them into ~2 inch pieces. You want them to be in large chunks, not thin slices. Set these aside. Dice your jalapeno and add it to a large mixing bowl, you will add your turkey bacon to this same bowl after it finishes cooking.

There are two ways to cook your plantains. I prefer to do mine in the air fryer. This reduces the amount of coconut oil I use and overall is easier. However, you can easily cook you plantains in the same pan you just finished cooking your turkey bacon in. Just add about 1 TBS more of coconut oil, place all your plantain chunks in it, and saute until golden brown on all sides.

For the Air Fryer: Toss your plantains in the remaining coconut oil from your turkey bacon. Set the air fryer to 400 F and timer to 15 minutes. Allow to preheat for 3 minutes. Add plantains to hot air fryer and cook for 12 minutes, shaking half way through, or until plantains are golden brown on all sides.

Mash plantains in a mortar and pestle then add to the mixing bowl with jalapenos and turkey bacon. Add mojo sauce and combined mixture well. To be honest, I usually get in there with my hands and really combine it all together, but using a potato masher usually does the trick as well. Add salt as needed.

Sever your kabobs and mofongo together. ENJOY!