Passport & Plate - Empanada Filipiniana
Philippines | Saturday, February 15, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Fillings:
• ground pork/beef/chicken
• minced onion
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• raisins
• bell pepper
• potatoes, cubed
• green peas
• salt and pepper to taste
Dough:
• 5 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 medium egg
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• pinch of salt
Salsa:
• tomato, crushed
• lime/lemon/calamansi
• onions, minced
• bell pepper
• pinch of sugar, salt and pepper
• coriander/cilantro
How to prepare this recipeTo prepare the filling:
• Sauté onion and let it caramelize for a minute or two, then put garlic. Add the ground pork until garlic is brown. Let it parboil or as we say it "sancochar" for 10 minutes.
• On a different pan, fry potatoes until half-crisped then add it to the sautéd pork.
• Add salt and pepper.
• Put raisins, green peas and bell pepper when potatoes are cooked.
Dough:
• On a bowl, mix the egg, vinegar and water.
• Place the flour on a clean and dry table, make a center hole.
Put all the wet ingredients at the hole then start to mix it manually until dough is formed. (It is advised that you put a little pours of water if dough is starting to get dry)
• Once the dough is fluffy and stable, cover with a plastic cling wrap or a dry cloth and let it sit for at least 30 min in a cool dry place.
• After 30mins, unwrap the dough, then sprinkle flour on a dry, clean countertop or table. Dump your dough that forms a loose stickyball into the surface.
• Start kneading into smaller flat circular pieces with your desired size.
Salsa: (which is kinda my own recipe)
• You can either use canned crushed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes.
-If you prefer using fresh ones, clean it with water thoroughly. Cut it into small cubes or another option would be by boiling it for 2-3mins and put it on a separate bowl and crush it using a fork.
• Add the remaining ingredients: calamansi/lime juice, minced onions, cubed bell peppers, sugar, salt and pepper to taste, and lastly your coriander/cilantro. Mix it all up and put it to fridge until before serving.
The story behind this recipeWhen I was a kid, empanada was introduced to me by my grandfather. He always tell me stories that when he was a kid, it was his favorite afternoon snack. He said that it was abundantly sold in their province and he always asks his parents for extra change just to buy one. And everyday after my school, I go to their house and always share and enjoy this delightful afternoon snack. I always insist him to teach me how to cook this one in particular so when I grow up I'll just prepare for the two of us. Now that I'm thinking about it, I sounded so innocent, which is kinda funny because I remember always asking questions when I was a kid.
Years has passed and my grandpa died. I never knew how to cook our favorite shared food. Not until I got in college where I found a lot of extra time in my hand. I went out one time and found an empanada stand which got me thinking that it's probably for me to finally learn how to cook one. By accident, when I was planning to cook a pancake, I discovered how to prepare the dough just by mixing flour, egg and a little amount of water. And the rest is history.
Now, I can finally say that wherever my grandpa is, I'm proud that we shared his favorite stories and snack. I promise myself, that in the future, I'll make sure to share my recipe to my kids and grandkids as well, just to continue the great story legacy. ?
