The ‘Mojo de Cilantro’ is the king of the Canarian green mojos. Almost as popular as the ‘Mojo Picón’, this is a milder variety which makes it the perfect complement for any fish-based recipe.
Oh yes! It really does work with fish. Although today, we’ll prepare it as a sauce for one of the most traditional Canary Islands recipes: the ‘papas arrugadas’ or ‘wrinkly potatoes’.
This is a super interesting dish. For most of the peninsular Spaniards, almost an exotic one. More likely to have been found on the South American gastronomy than on the Spanish one. Yet this is as Spanish of a dish as a croquette!
Originally, this recipe would be prepared with some of the many autochtone varieties of ‘ancient Canarian’ potatoes. However, any small new potato with a fine skin will do. And yes, size matters here. The potatoes must be small so that they cook thoroughly and they wrinkle adequately.
The term ‘wrinkly’ makes reference to the shrivelled look of the potatoes once they are cooked, originally in sea water or as we’re about to do, in heavily salted water.
I promise you’ll love this way of cooking potatoes. Specially when you dip them in the super tasty ‘mojo de cilantro’. They’ll make a great starter for your meal or a perfect side dish for your fish. It’s also quick and easy to cook and very cheap on the pocket!
INGREDIENTS
- For the mojo
- 1 unit Garlic - 6 peeled cloves
- 1 bunch Fresh coriander
- 2 peppercorns Green pepper
- 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 50 g Sea salt
- 250 ml Extra virgin olive oil
- 75 ml Wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp Potato stock - Alternatively vegetable stock
- 1/2 units Avocado - Optional
- For the potatoes
- 1 kg Ancient Canarian potatoes - Alternatively the smallest new potatoes you can find
- 250 g Sea salt
- Water
METHOD
- Wash the potatoes thoroughly and put them in a pot. Add water, making sure it only covers ¾ of the potatoes. Add the salt and bring it to boil.
- Once the water boils, turn the heat down, cover the pot with a clean cloth and cover again with the pot lid. Make sure it’s well sealed.
- Let it cook until there’s hardly any water left. If the potatoes are already well done before all the water has evaporated, take the pot off the heat and remove any water excess, saving it for the mojo recipe.
- Cover the pot again and shake it vigorously with both hands so that the salt permeates the potatoes and we get the shrivelled effect that we’re after.
- Keep the pot covered and let the potatoes rest inside. This way, the potatoes will sweat, resulting in a perfect wrinkling. In the meantime, we can get on with the mojo.
- Pestle the cumin seeds. Add the peeled garlic, the green peppercorns, the coriander and the salt. Keep pestling. At this point, you can also smash some avocado and add it into the mixture. This is optional and not really part of the original recipe. It’s a tip from Pastora, the owner of Casa Tomarén, a rural guesthouse in Lanzarote. We love it as we think the mojo gets creamier and smoother but again, it’s up to how purist you want to get.
- Mix it all well and start pouring the oil and vinegar in, very slowly. If the mojo is still too thick, add no more than 3 tablespoons of the potato stock you are reserving. If you forgot to put it aside, just add water.
- Keep mixing it all and we’re done. Put it on a sauce boat and serve it together with the wrinkly potatoes.
- Serve only the potatoes you are eating and keep the rest inside the cover pot so that they don’t get cold.
You can keep the mojo in the fridge for at least a week. Just remember to stir it well when you take it out as it usually precipitates, separating the oil from the rest of the ingredients. Even if you don’t stir it, the mojo will be in perfect conditions, although its presence won’t be as good.
