Ingredients
Meats
- 600 gpork belly, in thick fingers with the skin on, scored
- 4chorizos antioqueños or santarrosanos
- 300 gmorcilla (rice blood sausage), thickly sliced
- 400 gpork ribs, cut into single ribs
- 300 gbeef liver or gizzards, optional but common
- 1 tbspsalt, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp black pepper
- Juice of 2 limes
- 4garlic cloves, crushed
Starches
- 600 gpapa criolla (small yellow potatoes), scrubbed, skins on
- 2ripe plantains, in thick diagonal slices
- 400 gcassava, peeled and cut into batons
- 4small arepas
- 1 litreoil for frying
To serve
- Ají picante: 4 spring onions, 2 chopped chillies, 1 chopped tomato, 3 tbsp coriander, juice of 2 limes, 2 tbsp water, salt
- Lime wedges
- A banana leaf or wooden board
Directions
- Marinate the ribs and belly with the lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes, and up to overnight in the fridge.
- Put the pork belly fingers in a heavy pan with 200 ml water, cover and simmer 30 minutes until the fat has rendered and the water evaporated, then uncover and fry in the rendered fat 15 minutes until the skin blisters into chicharrón.
- Simmer the ribs in lightly salted water for 35 minutes until tender, drain well and pat dry; frying wet ribs spits dangerously and never browns.
- Boil the papa criolla in salted water for 12–15 minutes until just tender, drain and steam-dry in the colander for 5 minutes.
- Heat the oil to 180°C (350°F) and fry the potatoes 4–5 minutes until the skins split and go golden and crisp, then salt them straight away.
- Fry the cassava batons for 6–8 minutes until crusted outside and fluffy within, and the ripe plantain until the edges caramelise dark.
- Fry the ribs in shallow oil for 6–8 minutes until crisp at the edges, then the sliced morcilla for 3 minutes a side and the chorizos for 10 minutes over medium heat, so they cook through before the skin splits.
- Meanwhile mix everything for the ají and let it sit 15 minutes to sharpen.
- Pile everything hot onto a board or a banana leaf, in overlapping heaps rather than neat rows, with arepas tucked in, lime wedges and a bowl of ají in the middle. Everyone eats from the same board, with fingers and toothpicks.
Technique
- Fritanga is a way of eating, not a fixed recipe: whatever was fried that day, piled communally. In Bogotá it is picada; in Antioquia the picada leans on chicharrón and chorizo.
- Fry in stages by density and keep the finished items on a rack in a low oven. Everything must reach the board hot and crisp at the same moment.
- Papa criolla is small, yellow-fleshed and waxy-sweet. Boiling before frying is what makes the inside creamy and the skin crackle.
Substitutions
- Morcilla can be replaced with Spanish morcilla de Burgos, which is also rice-based, or simply left out.
- Where papa criolla is unavailable, use small new potatoes; frozen papa criolla, fried straight from frozen, is better.
Variations
- Coastal fritanga adds fried yuca fritters and butifarra sausage.
- Roadside versions in Boyacá include longaniza and a bowl of clear broth to cut the fat.
History
Weekend and party food of Bogotá and the interior, sold from picada joints that fry the cuts on a hot iron plate.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fritanga?
Fritanga is a street food from Colombia: shared platter of fried pork, chorizo, blood sausage, potatoes and plantain. Weekend and party food of Bogotá and the interior, sold from picada joints that fry the cuts on a hot iron plate.
How long does Fritanga take to make?
Fritanga takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4–6 as a shared platter. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Fritanga?
Yes, within limits. Morcilla can be replaced with Spanish morcilla de Burgos, which is also rice-based, or simply left out. Where papa criolla is unavailable, use small new potatoes; frozen papa criolla, fried straight from frozen, is better.
What is the most important thing to get right in Fritanga?
Simmer the ribs in lightly salted water for 35 minutes until tender, drain well and pat dry; frying wet ribs spits dangerously and never browns.
