Basically, it is a mashed plantain puree and represents one of the most iconic dishes of the Dominican Republic. The plantain, or banana, originated in Southeast Asia in Neolithic times. The plant was introduced and cultivated on the island of Hispaniola, or Santo Domingo, by Africans from the mid-16th century onward. There are hundreds of banana varieties, but plantains and guineos are the most popular in the country. Plantains are eaten boiled as a root-starch staple, fried green and ripe, cooked ripe in a caldero, in stuffed casseroles (pastelones), and in many traditional preparations.

The word mangu, used to name this puree, is said to have originated during the years of the U.S. military occupation (1916–1924) in the Dominican Republic. It is told that Marines, after tasting the puree, would say, "Man (this is) good" (man, this is good), and Dominicans, who did not speak English, shortened "Man good" into mangu.

Regarding the origins of the word mangu in the country, the book El Mangu, by Francisco de Padua Morales, states that during the 1916 U.S. intervention, soldiers used to visit family homes to "explore the environment." On one of those visits, at lunchtime, they were served boiled and mashed plantains with the typical seasoning. It is said that one of them exclaimed "man good," pleased with the flavor, and since the family did not know English, they understood that he had said "mangu," a word that from then on began to circulate among Dominicans. De Padua also notes that, through oral tradition, mangu was prepared to make it easier for people without teeth, the elderly, or the weak to eat.

"Los Tres Golpes" is the most representative Dominican breakfast. It consists of three easy and delicious ingredients whose flavors and textures complement each other and are rich in protein: fried cheese, salami, and eggs, served with mangu, an essential element of Dominican flavors.

In 2011, the First Plantain and Mangu Festival was held in New York, organized by Isaias Amaro. Likewise, the Guinness Book of Records lists the largest mangu in the world, prepared at Restaurant 809 in Washington Heights, New York.

Mangu is such an important dish for Dominicans that Johnny Ventura, "El Caballo," composed the song "El Mangu" to honor it and invite people to listen to it. Since 2021, the second Sunday of February, during Mes de la Patria, has been celebrated as National Mangu Day.

Mangu gained international fame in 2013, when the Dominican team was crowned champion of the Third World Baseball Classic. Players on the Dominican national team attributed their victory to the energy they got from mangu, giving rise to the slogan "Platano Power."

Plantains are a fundamental part of world cuisine, but since they arrived in Dominican lands, brought from the Canary Islands by the Spanish Dominican priest Fray Tomas de Berlanga in 1516, they became an emblem of the national diet. It is a little-recognized legacy of Black African women, who knew the recipes for this staple food that can also become fruit and be used in juices, desserts, and remedies, while its leaves and peels are also used.

One of Dominicans’ favorite dishes, no matter where they are, is plantain mangu. Regarding its origin, the author notes in the chapter "Anthropology of Plantains: Origin, Development, Production, Idiosyncrasy, and Connection to Dominican Cuisine," in the work Aportes de estudios centrados en antropologia latinoamericana, that mangu is an African heritage that was creolized and turned into the quintessential dish of Creole cuisine. Its origin is in West Africa and it is a version of fufu, brought to the Caribbean by enslaved people of Ewe, Fon, Wolof, Ashanti, Yoruba, or Dinka origin. In Africa, this dish is made with tubers, plantains, bananas, and yams, cooked and then pounded until a paste is formed. Fufu is usually served with fish soup, tomato, or ground peanuts. The original word "mangusi" referred to almost any boiled and mashed root vegetable.
On this topic, Xiomarita Perez notes that, in consultation with Bruno Rosario Candelier about the word "mangu," he explained that it was introduced by him and accepted into the Diccionario de Americanismos, adding that "mangu" is a local term, which is why the Royal Spanish Academy produces special dictionaries for the regionalisms of Spanish-speaking peoples.