Pasteles En Hoja Dominican Republic Version Recipes

[RECIPE + VIDEO] PASTELES EN HOJA (DOMINICAN PLANTAIN POCKETS)

Steps:

• Making the batter by hand: Grate the plantain, yautía, and auyama with the least coarse side of the grater. Once grated, combine all the ingredients for the batter and mix well.Making the batter with blender/food processor: Chop the plantain, yautía, and auyama, and combine with the rest of the ingredients for the batter. Pureé in a strong blender or a food processor until it's uniform, and you can't feel any clumps, but feels like grains of sand in it. It may take 5-10 minutes depending on the blender/processor.
• Wrapping: Put 2.5 tablespoons of the plantain and root mixture on one of the plantain squares. Put 2 tablespoons of filling in the center, cover with 2 more tablespoons of the root mixture to cover the filling.Fold the leaf square in the shape of an envelope. Wrap again in parchment paper and tie tightly.Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Boiling: When all are wrapped, bring one gallon of water to boil in a large pot over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of salt.When the water reaches a rolling boil, carefully lower the pasteles into the water. Cover and cook for 40 minutes. The pasteles will float when put into the water, but as they cook they'll start to puff and sink. Make sure to turn a couple of times during the cooking time so they cook uniformly on all sides. Once the 40 minutes have passed, remove one from the pot, unwrap, and check for doneness: the consistency of the batter will have changed throughout. If it's ready, remove all from the water, otherwise boil for another 10 minutes.
• Serving: Serve right after unwrapping, garnished with hot sauce and/or ketchup.

PASTELES

Steps:

• add oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the annatto seeds and heat for one minute to release their orange color.
• Remove from heat and drain the oil into a separate container.
• Discard the seeds and return half of the oil to the skillet.
• Return the oil to medium-high heat and add the pork and bacon. Brown for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, small green peppers, tomatoes, culantro, and oregano, and sauté for another 5 minutes.
• Stir in the chickpeas and olives (with their respective liquids), capers, and raisins.
• Cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 40 minutes. When done, uncover and allow to cool.
• Drain the broth into a separate container and set aside.
• Make the dough by peeling the plantains and the bananas, first cutting off the ends and running a knife tip lengthwise along one or more of the ridges.
• Insert and run a thumb just beneath the cut peel to lift and remove it. Peel the yautia.
• Place plantains, bananas, and yautia into a large bowl of salted cold water to prevent discoloring.
• You can grate them using the fine side of a hand grater, or instead, cut into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces for the processor.
• Fill 1/3 to 1/2 of the food processor or blender container with the cut vegetables, slowly adding broth to form a smooth, porridgelike mash. It should not be runny.
• Transfer the purée to a large bowl. If you run out of broth, substitute water as needed.
• Stir in the salt and the remaining annatto oil.
• Place a banana leaf on a sheet of parchment paper.
• Drop a scant 1/2 cup of the dough onto the center of the leaf and spread it several inches all around with the back of a spoon.
• Drop 2 tablespoons of the filling a bit off center. Fold each long side and then the ends toward the center.
• Slide the encased leaf toward the long edge of the parchment and wrap again.
• Fold end flaps over.
• Tie two pasteles together, with folded edges facing each other.
• To cook, put a batch (4 to 6 tied bundles) into a large kettle of salted boiling water and cook semicovered at medium-high heat for 30 minutes.
• Turn the bundles over and cook 40 minutes more.
• When done, drain them well, remove the strings and wrappings, and serve hot.

PASTELES EN HOJA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC VERSION)

Steps:

• Cut the banana leaves into 8x8-inch squares wash, pat dry and reserve.
• If using pork or chicken:.
• Place a small chicken (about a 2lbs) or pork loin in a crock pot and liberally sprinkle with adobo seasoning until covered. Set on low for 6-8 hours When done, allow it to cool and shred it with your fingers. Now you can use it for the pasteles.
• If using ground beef:.
• In a bowl combine the meat with the onion powder, oregano, basil, 2 tbsp adobo seasoning.
• In a pan over medium heat, heat up oil and add garlic, onions and pepper. Sauté until tender. Add 1/2 lb of meat.
• Cook until no longer pink and drain. Return to heat and 2 tbsp of water and tomato paste. Cook until all liquid has evaporated. Reserve.
• If using cooked pork or chicken:.
• Heat up oil over medium heat and add garlic, onions and pepper until tender; add 1/2 lb meat. Season with oregano, bay, onion powder, black pepper and salt if needed. Stir until combined. Add 2 tbsp water and tomato paste, heat through, for about 2 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Reserve.
• Peel the plantains, niame and malanga. Grate the raw niame, malanga and plantain and mix with 1 tsp of adobo seasoning and 1 tspn salt. Add the broth either store-bought kind or the broth made if you slow-cooked the chicken. It will look like a doughy mass. Don't make it too wet.
• For assembly:.
• Put 2 tbsp of the plantain mixture on the center of a banana tree leaf, on top put 1 tspn of meat, and top that with 2 more tbsp of the plantain mixture. Wrap the leaf around it to form a rectangle; about 5-7" in length and 3-4" in width. Wrap another layer of parchment paper over each one. Tie string once around and once the other way to resemble a present, and tie a knot in the middle. At this point you can freeze them by wrapping a third layer of foil over each one and store for up to a month, just remove foil before cooking.
• When ready to make, put half a gallon of water in a very large pot and boil them for 20 minutes. Remove the banana leaf before eating.
• We usually eat them with Tabasco sauce and/or ketchup. Enjoy!