Kulinarya: Empanada!

My first Kulinarya Challenge! yahoo!


This month's Kulinarya dish was hosted by Kath of A Cupcake or Two who chose Empanada, which I think is perfect as I have been wanting to make this stuffed pastry since high school!


I used to live with my aunt when I was still studying in Davao Oriental and Manang Inday, used to make these and sell it along our school entrance, and I was really proud of her because she absolutely made the best ever empanada of all time! Deliciously satisfying all-in-one meal! I actually asked her to give me a few as I'd be happy to help her sell it to my classmates, yes, I'm one of those students you see selling "kakanins" inside the classroom during recess and in my trusty bayong goody bag included yema, cheese sticks, kool-em mints, polvoron and ube! And I proudly made my own products, except for the candies, of course. =)

So, I went to look up for the perfect empanada dough recipe and I saw this empanada de kaliskis at Kusina ni Manang, which looked really challenging and I thought the kaliskis were really wonderful!

But, the kaliskis didn't seem to work well with me...I had a hard time with the oil dough and I thought maybe it was because of the quality of the shortening I used, however Manang used pork lard and it worked well, but one thing's for sure, these empanadas were very tasty! I'll be making these again using the traditional dough and maybe kaliskis using a different shortening. hmmm..

Pork Tenderloin Empanada

Kaliskis Dough
Recipe from Kusina Ni Manang

Water Dough:

200 gm all purpose flour
1/2 tsp white vinegar
50 gm pork lard (or shortening)
30 gm sugar100 gm water

Oil Dough:

180 gm all purpose flour
100 gm pork lard (or shortening)


Procedure:

1. For water dough, mix water, sugar, and vinegar. Mix in flour then add pork lard (or shortening). Knead to a soft dough. Wrap in plastic and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
2. For oil dough, use a food processor to blend well (use short bursts to make it crumb-looking).
3. Use a rolling pin to flatten water dough. Distribute oil dough on half of water dough. Cover the oil dough with the other half of water dough so the water dough completely envelopes oil dough. Leave as little of the water dough at the edges just so you can seal water dough nicely all around oil dough.
4. Flatten and pop any bubble, but seal tightly so oil dough does not leak out.
5. Fold into thirds (the ends of the long rectangle) then fold in two so you end up with a squarish form. Flatten again to make it rectangular then fold in two again to make it square.
6. Flatten again to make it rectangular, about 9x13, then roll like jelly roll to form a log using the longer side.
7. Tap the ends of the log to make them flatter before starting to slice.
8. Slice every 3/4" to 1 inch (or slice and fill one at a time).
9. Use your palm to initially flatten, then use the rolling pin. Flatten the edges more since those are going to be crimped/pleated (and therefore, if you make it thick at the start, pleating will make it thicker). The middle should be thick enough so it does not break open when you put the filling in.
10. Place about 1 tbsp of filling. Pinch the edges and pleat/crimp.
11. Deep fry in 375 deg F oil for about 2 minutes, then drain on paper.

For step by step pictures, please go to Kusina ni Manang here.

Empanada Filling

1/4 kilo Pork tenderloin diced
1 onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 carrot diced
1 large potato diced
3 tsbp raisins
2 tsbp black olives sliced
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup pork stock with 1 tsp cornstarch

Procedure:

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, saute onion and garlic until translucent and lightly browned.
2. Add pork, sweat for 3 minutes.
3. Then add carrot, potato, raisins, black olives, pork stock-cornstarch slurry and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until veggies are cooked but still firm.