Name: Malarrabia piurana
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 60 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 1000 g very ripe cooking plantains, peeled; black-spotted skins, flesh cut in chunks; 2000 ml water, for boiling plantains; discard after cooking; 200 g fresh goat cheese, pasteurized, crumbled; 120 g red onion, finely diced; 200 g ripe tomato, finely diced; 45 g ají amarillo, seeded and minced; 15 ml vegetable oil; 3 g ground achiote; 4 g fine salt, 2 g mash; 2 g fish; 600 g boneless white fish fillets, four 150 g portions; 150 ml water, for fish pan; 20 ml lime juice; 1 g ground black pepper

Malarrabia with ripe plantain, fresh cheese and fish

Yield 4 servings

Prep 25 minutes

Cook 35 minutes

Passive 0 minutes

Total 60 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Malarrabia with ripe plantain, fresh cheese and fish

Malarrabia is associated with Piura on Peru’s northern coast, especially meals served on Fridays during Lent. Its defining preparation is not a hot banana pudding but a savoury-sweet mash of fully ripe cooking plantain and cheese.

Achiote, tomato, onion and ají introduce a savoury base that balances the plantain sweetness. Fresh goat cheese is particularly associated with the northern preparation; it should be crumbled in rather than melted into a smooth sauce.

The full meal is often accompanied by fish, cooked beans and rice. Here the fish is cooked separately and plated with the mash, allowing the character of the malarrabia to remain clear without obliging the cook to prepare every possible side dish.

Ingredients

Malarrabia mash

1000 g very ripe cooking plantains, peeled; black-spotted skins, flesh cut in chunks
2000 ml water, for boiling plantains; discard after cooking
200 g fresh goat cheese, pasteurized, crumbled
120 g red onion, finely diced
200 g ripe tomato, finely diced
45 g ají amarillo, seeded and minced
15 ml vegetable oil
3 g ground achiote
4 g fine salt, 2 g mash; 2 g fish

Fish accompaniment

600 g boneless white fish fillets, four 150 g portions
150 ml water, for fish pan
20 ml lime juice
1 g ground black pepper

Method

Simmer the plantain.Put the 1000 g peeled ripe plantain chunks in a saucepan with 2000 ml boiling water; simmer for 18 minutes, then drain thoroughly. The plantain is soft enough to squash easily under a fork.
Prepare the dressing.While the plantain cooks, warm 15 ml oil in a wide pan over medium heat and soften the 120 g onion for 4 minutes. Add tomato, minced ají and 3 g achiote; cook 5 minutes. The tomato breaks down into a moist savoury base and the onion loses its raw crunch.
Mash with cheese.Mash the drained plantain in a bowl; fold in all the hot tomato dressing, 200 g crumbled cheese and 2 g salt. The mixture holds soft spoonfuls, with distinct little pieces of cheese.
Cook the fish.Season the four fish fillets with the remaining 2 g salt and black pepper; set in a clean lidded skillet with 150 ml water, cover and gently steam for 8 minutes, measuring in the thickest centre. The fish flakes into moist sections and reaches 63 °C internally.
Finish and plate.Divide the mash between four plates, add one hot fish fillet to each and sprinkle the 20 ml lime juice across the fish just before serving. The mash remains soft and the fish sits on the side rather than disappearing into it.

Practical

Practical guidance

Use a true cooking plantain that is thoroughly ripe. Green plantain will produce a dense starchy mash with a different taste and cannot stand in unnoticed. Mash the hot plantain before it cools; if the dressing is still very watery, reduce it in the pan before combining. Keep the final mixture spoonable rather than runny. Serve promptly. Refrigerate leftover fish and mash separately within two hours at 4 °C or below; use within 3–4 days and reheat the cooked components to 74 °C.

Control points

The mash tastes starchy rather than gently sweet.The plantains were not fully ripe; use fruit with heavily darkened skins next time.
The mixture is soupy.The cooked plantain or sofrito held too much water; drain the plantain fully and reduce the tomato dressing before mixing.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size1 of 4 plantain-and-fish portions
Calories625 kcal
Carbohydrate76 g
Protein37 g
Fat19 g
Fibre8 g
Sodium550 mg

Allergens and food safety

Contains fish and milk (goat cheese). Confirm that the cheese is pasteurized. Keep raw fish apart from cooked plantain and the cheese. Check the thickest fish section reaches 63 °C; lime juice is seasoning, not a cooking step.

Closing

Result: A sweet-savory plantain mash with safely cooked fish.
Decisive control: Use very ripe cooking plantain and check fish reaches 63 °C.