Are you planning to visit Puerto Rico? Sure, the different tourist spots are a must-have on your vacation list but don’t forget to try out the food…especially cuchifritos!
If you’re a foodie looking for the best food in Puerto Rico cuisine, cuchifritos might captivate you.
It’s pork-based, and it’s known for its variety of flavors. No matter what dish you eat, it’s filling and guaranteed to leave you wanting for more.Read on to learn more about cuchifritos.
What Are Cuchifritos?
Cuchifritos are the name given to a variety of Puerto Rican foods that are usually pork based and fried. The word cuchifrito comes from the fried pork dish originating from Southern Spain, “cochifrito”. It means fried pig, but in Puerto Rico, it’s used for almost anything fried. Some examples of cuchifritos are alcapurrias, rellenos de papa, morcilla and carne frita.
You can eat these at home as snacks the same way you’d eat empanadillas and sorullitos.
But for the most part, a cuchifrito often gets served in kiosks by the beach in Puerto Rico.
These small stores sell great fried Puerto Rican street food served with cold local beer or a fresh tropical juice to wash it all down.
A lot of cuchifrito dishes have a type of dough on the outside with meat filling inside.
Often, the filling is picadillo, a sautee of ground beef coupled with tomato sauce and sofrito.
But Puerto Rican cuchifrito will often have a Caribbean twist on it such as local fish or Caribbean land crabs called jueyes.
Popular Cuchifrito Dishes
Some dishes stick with most people after the first taste. Their popularity is such that they’re always at the menu of Cuchifrito restaurants.
Here are some traditional cuchifrito dishes:
1. Rellenos de Papa
Papas Rellenos or Rellenos de Papa are oversized, deep-fried round croquettes at their core.
Fried mashed potato is used for its exterior and picadillo for its interior.
If you are unfamiliar with picadillo, it is a popular meat based dish throughout Latin America.
Typically, picadillo is made with ground beef, tomatoes, raisins and olives.
These Puerto Rican potato balls are delicious.
2. Empanadillas
A Puerto Rican empanadilla, also sometimes called a pastelillo, comes from the Spanish dish – the empanada – a savory fried meat pie in a folded pastry crust.
Empanadillas are portable, customizable, and staple dishes in many Latin countries.
If you are looking to try something new with Puerto Rican flair, this is your entrée.
3. Alcapurrias
This is a tasty dish originating from Puerto Rico. Alcapurrias are wonderful fried, protein-filled fritters.
The outside shell of an alcapurria is made from a mixture of plantains or unripe green bananas mixed with a mashed root vegetable.
As for fillings, it almost always comes with picadillo or jueyes.
It’s great since its dough is crunchy while the filling is fluffy and salty, savory and hot.
The locals love this dish, many claim it as their favorite cuchifrito, so you’re guaranteed to find it both at home and on the kiosks.
4. Bacalaítos
Bacalaitos, or codfish fritters, are a Puerto Rican staple.
They are flat and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They resemble irregularly shaped, deep-fried pancakes.
Bacalaitos are typically sold at food kiosks along the country’s beaches.
Although they first appeared during the time of the Spanish explorers, they originated in Africa.
They are wildly popular food in Puerto Rico.
5. Morcilla
Morcilla is another popular cuchifrito.
It is a blood sausage from Spain that is quite popular during the holiday season.
There are many different morcilla recipe variations, but most include fat, pork blood, onions, and yellow rice.
With a long history, morcilla was eaten by peasants and farmers, but many enjoy the blood sausage today.
Eat Some Good Cuchifritos Today!
There are a lot of other dishes you can try when you’re trying out cuchifritos.
In most cases, you won’t even need to go to Puerto Rico to taste them.
Some establishments in the United States dedicate their menu to these comfort dishes, and most of them are authentic too.
The most famous of all being 188 Cuchifritos in the Bronx, NY. It’s a great place to try some traditional Puerto Rican soul food.
Their offering of authentic cuchifritos are second to none outside of the beautiful island of Puerto Rico.
Don’t stop here! Feel free to try our other Puerto Rican food articles like Puerto Rican Desserts: 12 You’re Sure To Love or Puerto Rican Christmas Foods For A Feliz Navidad.
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Jorge Garcia is the founder of AmigoFoods, where he has spent over 20 years helping readers discover authentic Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Raised in a Cuban-American household, Jorge learned to cook at the hands of his mother and grandmother, carrying forward generations of family recipes. That heritage, backed by his family’s four-generation history in the Latin food industry, inspired him to launch AmigoFoods in 2003. With more than 1,000 published articles on recipes, ingredients, and food culture, Jorge’s mission is simple: make authentic Latin cooking approachable for home cooks everywhere while honoring the traditions behind every dish.