Rose’s Dominican Mangú con Los Tres Golpes
- July 2021
- By Rose Rosario
- Recipe from Dominican Republic
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Mangú con los tres golpes is the Dominican dish of our dreams. It has forever been on our comida Latina bucket list here at Familia Kitchen. For all of us non-Dominicans, mangu is mashed plantain, topped with sautéd red onions and olive oil or butter. The second part of the dish’s name—los tres golpes (which means ”the three hits’)—refers to the trio of foods alongside the mangu: fried egg, fried salami, and fried cheese.
That’s a whole lot of fried—and a whole lot of delicioso.
Which is why we are muy, muy excited to share one family’s special recipe for this beloved breakfast tradition: Muchas gracias for sharing your receta, Rosangela “Rose” Rosario, owner of the beloved Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Angela’s Bakery.
If you are from the New York City/Brooklyn area and have even a chispito of D.R. or Puerto Rican heritage in you, you’ve likely eaten Dominican cake from Angela’s Bakery. Famous for its moist and airy texture and meringue frosting, Angela’s famous bizcocho Dominicano is served all over the triborough area at just about every Latino birthday party. (Don’t live near New York? No worries! You can get your Angela’s Cake Mix from our Familia Kitchen La Tienda and here.) The bakery was started by Angela, Rose’s mother, who had taken a bakery course on a whim and put her skills to making the best-known dessert from her homeland, Santo Domingo. Rose has been working at the family bakery since she was 16, when it opened in 2003. From counter clerk to CEO: it’s been quite the ride.
Not only is she a tremenda baker, Angela is also a cocinera fantástica, even though she claims not to enjoy cooking, says her daughter. “My mom comes from a family of 10: five boys, five girls. She and all my aunts say they don’t love to cook—and all are really great cooks.” As if to prove her daughter’s point, over Rose’s shoulder during our video call, I can see Angela in the kitchen, whipping up a large batch of mangú.
Which means Rose is ”in heaven,” say says. Mangu is one of her favorite dishes—ever. Does she remember when she first ate mangu? “I can’t,” she shakes her head. “I have been eating this my whole life. I could eat this every single day. And I would never get tired.”
Why This Mangú Is Different—and Amazing
Her family’s mangu con los tres golpes is extra good, Rose says, because they mix green and ripe plantains. “The traditional way is with only green plantains, but we do it is a little bit different because we use both el plátano maduro y el plátano verde.
“It is to die for,” Rose says. She and her mom mix bright-green and yellow-turning-black plantains—with lots of butter: “like mashed potatoes. Some people add water, but we don’t really do that because el plátano maduro is already soft and smooth. And then, of course I add my onion, because I love onion, guisa’ita”—sauted and translucent reddish pink, she says.
The final touch to Rose’s beloved mangu: Garnish it with two to three slices of avocado, drizzled with avocado oil and a final, perfect pinch of salt.
Got 15 Minutes? Make Mangu
Like most of her mom’s dishes, this one takes about 15 minutes to make—total, says Rose. That’s one of the many talents of Angela. Her mom will poke her head into the refrigerator, grab the first several ingredients she sees, and make a delicious, traditional meal—in mere minutos. “With whatever she finds in the nevera. And it’s crazy how it comes out so good. I’m like, ‘Mami: ‘When I try that, it doesn’t come out so good: no me sale.’ But for her, yes.”
The traditional version is tres golpes, but truthfully, this recipe version should be called mangú with los dos golpes, since Angela and Rose serve their plantain mash with just two of the three sides: fried egg and salami.
No queso, no problem. As long as the dish has mangu at its center, and the fried egg and the salami are right there next to it, Rose and her family are in comida heaven.
Ready to Make Mangu con los Tres Golpes?
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