What are we cooking today? Pasteles de Yuca: a Puerto Rican delicacy
What exactly as pasteles? The vagueness attached to the world delicacy doesn’t really nudge a foodie’s interest. So, here’s a detailed description of what a pasteles is. Similar to the British pasty or the Italian Calzones, Pasteles are fried dumpling sort of a thing, save for the fact that it is not fried but boiled and that can have anything from lean pork to vegetables as filling. Generally Pork.
A pasteles is divided into three parts: the filling, the masa and the assembling. Let’s take a look at the individual sections of a Typical Pastele Recipe.
What’s masa? Masa is the wrap that usually is made with a combination of grated green banana, plaintain, taro root and pumpkins. Once mixed, the masa is seasoned with liquid from the meat mixture, milk and annatto oil.
The filling: The filling is usually a combination of different meats, raisins, bacon, potatoes, chickpeas, olives and capers. This may or may not be seasoned with bay leaves.
Assembling a typical pastel: once the fillings are wrapped in masa, it is then wrapped in a strip of banana leaf that has been open heated to make it tender. The leaf is then folded and cooked in boiling water.
Serving suggestions: Rice and pigeon peas.
Pasteles de Yuca
Ingredients:
Masa
- Green bananas, peeled and chopped – 5
- Green plantain, peeled and chopped – 1
- Yautía (taro root), peeled and chopped — 1 1/2 pounds
- Russet potato, peeled and chopped – 1
- Salt: to taste
Filling
- Onion, chopped: 1
- Green pepper, seeded and chopped: 1
- Garlic, peeled and chopped: 3 to 4 cloves
- Oil: 2 to 3 tbsp
- Pork butt or shoulder, cut into small cubes: 2 pounds
- Tomato sauce: 1 cup
- Water: 1/2 cup
- Cilantro, chopped: 1/2 bunch
- Salt and pepper: to taste
Method:
Cook: Brown the pork pieces in a pan. Add the rest of the stuffing ingredients and cook till pork is pink
Knead: In a blender, blend all the ingredients together to have a smooth paste.
Wrap: Make a square or circle of the dough on oiled banana leaf. Fill in the fillings and wrap the sides. Now, fold the banana leaf, tie it with strings and cook in a pot of boiling salted water.
Cool and serve.