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Take Your Taste Buds to El Salvador!

Take Your Taste Buds to El Salvador!

LunchBreakLIVE with Norma Perez (The Salvi Vegan) for a special Salvadoran dish called Yuca Frita con Curtido y Salsa Roja, and she makes the drink Fresco de Chan to cure your thirst. This is the perfect dish for any time of the year and it can be paired with just about anything as a side dish. This dish is packed with delicious ingredients that you can customize to your taste! 

Ingredients like this bring the flavor and nutrients to this dish!

Norma calls herself Salvi Vegan, shortening Salvadoran to “Salvi.” She went to many vegan festivals & realized there weren’t many Salvadoran vegan food options except for non-vegan restaurants offering Salvi vegan options even though they also made other Latin cuisines.  She tapped into the cultural cooking skills that she didn’t know she had from her mother’s cooking to share the food she loves veganized with everyone! Lucky us to have her in our community sharing her amazing dishes and drinks with us! 

Nothing is more refreshing than a tall glass of Fresco de Chan.

Norma started her transition to veganism when she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her lower back. She was a professional choreographer and dance instructor before the diagnosis, and the diagnosis halted her career. After doing a lot of research she realized that the cause of her condition may have been correlated to the consumption of meat and other animal products. She looked into the animal agricultural industry and she watched the documentary “Earthlings.” This was the final push she needed. After watching the documentary and seeing the truth about how animals are severely mistreated as part of animal agriculture, she went vegan overnight! 

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Norma is as vibrant as her beautiful food!
First, Norma chops up the cabbage for the curtido and instead of boiling it she massages it with salt. This keeps the vegetable fresh and full of the maximum amount of nutrients. Then she adds a few pinches of fresh shredded carrots and sliced onions and mixes into the cabbage with pepper and oregano. Lastly, she adds the white wine vinegar and it’s all done and fresh as it could possibly be. Next, Norma shows us the Fresco de Chan made with fresh hibiscus she boiled prior to the show. Later, she will strain it and add chia seeds to make a refreshing drink. Now it’s time for the Yuca Frita! Norma chops up the yuca root and boils it. Once fully boiled, she takes it out of the water to cool down. Then, she removes the vein in the yuca because it is tough and unsavory. You can treat yuca root like potatoes. You can fry or mash them too. She fries a few of the pieces for the “frita” and she leaves the rest boiled for an even healthier option. The Yuca Frita dish is very colorful when it’s finished and Patrizia is ready to taste it. Patrizia grabs her favorite fork and digs in! It’s delicious! Try making your own traditional Salvadoran Yuca Frita con Curtido and Fresco de Chan at home with Norma’s recipe below!
Delicious vegan food that is also nutritious is the best!
Taste The Salvi Vegan’s creation in Hawthorne at Green Saturday on August 17th!
Follow Norma (El Salvi Vegan) on Facebook and Instagram.

Patrizia Barretto reporting LIVE for JaneUnchained News Network.

Photos courtesy of Patrizia Barretto.

Yuca Frita
Ingredients:
2 Yuca Root
Salt to taste
1) Start by cutting the ends of the yuca root. Then cut it in 3 pieces.
2) Cut the skin off the yuca and place in a deep pan once all done. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salt if boiling 2 yuca roots.
3) Once they have expanded,  where some have cracked open and a whole in the middle is more visible and a fork goes right through the yuca, it is done. Usually takes 7 to 10 minutes.
4) Take the pieces out of the water and put them onto a plate to cool off. Then make sure to take the fibrous vein out of the middle.
5) Cut them into large-sized French fry wedges.
6) You can eat them like this or fry them. If frying them, make sure they turn a golden brown, frying about 2 minutes or less each side.
Curtido
Ingredients:
1 cabbage
2 carrots
1 onion
Salt to taste
Black pepper 1/2 tbs
Oregano dried leaves 1 1/2 tbs.
White wine vinegar  2 to 3 tbs.
1) Get the cabbage and slice it in the middle. Get one half and start doing thin slices off the side that was cut. Make sure not to get the root as it is bitter.
2) Once all are cut, add salt, about 1 tbs to cut cabbage. Start massaging the cabbage till it wilts down.
3) Get a yellow onion and cut the ends off first and then slice in the middle. You want to have long thin slices of onions. Once cut, mix it with cabbage.
4) Get a cheese grater and shred the carrots onto the bigger portion of the cheese grater with the bigger whole. Once the carrots are shredded, mix everything together.
5) Add about 1/2 tbs black pepper or more to your taste. Then add about 1 to 1. 1/2 tbs of oregano leaves.
6) Add white wine vinegar,  however much you’d like but to have an exact measurement, add about 2 to 3 tbs or more and then mix it all together.
7) Put it in a glass container so that it can stay fresher.
Supply list
Water
Large pot to boil yuca
Bowl to add veggies to mix
Chefs knife
Cutting board
Cheese grater
Glass container
Measuring tablespoons
Fresco de Chan (Hibiscus,  lemon juice, cane sugar, chia seeds)
3 tablespoons of chia seeds
1 lb of Hibiscus
About 4 lemons squeeze the juice out
Cane sugar
1) Grab a handful of hibiscus leaves and boil them in water. Boil for about 5 minutes or so and then drain without the leaves, just the colored juice.
2) in a container or pitcher add till half full of water. Add 3 tablespoons of chia seeds. Mix well so that chia seeds don’t get stuck together.
3) Add 3 to 4 lemons(depends how much citrus you like) to the pitcher full of chia seeds and then mix. Cover and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. As 10 minutes pass, take the pitcher out and mix well again so chia seeds separate more. And cover back up again.
4) Once 30 minutes pass, add the dark juice of hibiscus to the pitcher and then add more water. Add about 1 cup to 2 cups of cane sugar, (depending on how sweet you want it) Taste to see if more sugar is needed and add to your liking. Cover again and put it back in the fridge so it can get colder.
Supplies for Fresco de Chan
Pitcher
Bowl to Boil Hibiscus
Table Spoons
Knife
Whisk
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