For Cuban fufú, plantain is boiled and then mashed with garlic and chicharrones, crisp pieces of pork. It can be made with green plantain or pintón, which is beginning to ripen. The plantain becomes a thick mash with the pieces of pork mixed through it.
Some of the hot cooking water can be kept to soften the mixture as it is mashed. The garlic is added to the fried pork, and that mixture goes into the plantain. Fufú is served hot: as it cools, it can dry out and become firmer.