Puerto Rican Pasteles Pasteles Puertorriqueños Recipe Epicuriouscom

AUTHENTIC PUERTO RICAN PASTELES

Steps:

• Use a boning knife to remove the bone from the pork shoulder. Set the bone aside to use later for making the ham stock. Next, use a chef's knife to remove the fat cap from the meat. Dice the fat and set it aside (or refrigerate it with bone). This will be rendered to create the stewed pork filling. Dice the pork shoulder into small chunks: in squares about 1/2" big.
• In a non-reactive mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the sofrito, the white wine vinegar, olive oil, sazón, adobo, oregano, and black pepper. Slice the onion in half. Grate one half of the onion into the bowl with the spices and vinegar. Reserve the other half to use in cooking the pork. Add the garlic to the bowl. Mix the marinade with a whisk until smooth.
• Add the diced meat to the bowl and toss it in the marinade to coat it thoroughly.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the meat to marinate for 4-12 hours in the refrigerator.
• To a small stock pot, add the reserved pork bone and the remaining half of the onion.Place the peppercorns, garlic, and bay leaves into the center of a cheesecloth square. Bring the four corners of the square to the center. Tie a 4" piece of butcher's twine around the top of the bundle to secure it.
• Tie one end of the string to the handle of the stock pot and put the spice bundle into the pot with the bone and the onion. Fill the pot with just enough cold water to cover the bone. Bring the water in the pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Don't stir the broth as it boils.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the broth to simmer for 15-20 minutes. The broth will develop a gray, foamy scum on its surface. Use a wide spoon to skim the scum from the surface then discard it. Continue simmering the broth until the 15 minutes. Once the broth is done, leave it to cool on the stove for ten minutes.
• Once the broth has cooled slightly, use a ladle to pour the broth through a cheesecloth-lined funnel into mason jars. Cover and store the broth in the refrigerator or use it right away.
• About an hour before you plan to assemble your pasteles, cook the pork filling. Dice the remaining onion half. Heat a caldero over medium-low heat. Add the reserved pork fat to the caldero and let it slowly heat up along with the pot to render it. Once 2 tablespoons of oil have cooked off of the fat, remove the fat pieces with a slotted spoon (you can also just leave it in the pot).
• Increase the stove's temperature to medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and the remaining sofrito to the pot with the rendered fat and sauté for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. Next, add the marinated pork to the pot and brown it over medium-heat heat for 8-10 minutes.
• Stir in the tomato sauce, sliced olives, capers, and bay leaves. Bring the mixture up to a boil, then reduce the temperature to low. Cover the pot and allow the meat to simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until tender.
• Once tender, the pork filling can be used right away or refrigerated for up to 2 days in a covered container.
• Fill a large bowl with 6 cups of hot tap water. Stir in 1/4 cup of salt into the water. Use a chef's knife to cut off both ends of the bananas. Take the tip of your knife and make a slit down the back and front of each banana. Place the bananas into the salted water and leave the peel to soften while you prep the remaining root vegetables.
• Remove the tough rind from the calabaza. Cut the calabaza into 2-inch chunks and throw them into the bowl of saltwater with the bananas.Use a vegetable peeler to peel the yautía. Cut it in fourths, lengthwise. Add it to the bowl with the calabaza.Peel the batata and cut it in quarters lengthwise, as well. Add it to the bowl of saltwater. The peels of the bananas should be soft enough to remove by now. Peel each and return them to the bowl of water.
• Set up your food processor with the grater blade. Turn the machine on and add the bananas and root veggies you have soaking in the saltwater to shred them.
• Remove the grating blade and replace it with the processing blade.Add 1/4 of the shredded veggie mix to the food processor bowl. Puree the mix for 1-2 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the bowl.
• Puree the mix for another 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the masa resembles peanut butter. Scoop the masa out of the bowl and into a separate mixing bowl. Continue pureeing the remaining veggies in batches the same way.
• After pureeing the masa, use a large spoon to combine. The masa should be smooth- free of lumps- thick, and almost spongy. Add 1/4-1/2 cup of achiote oil to the masa in the bowl. The more oil you add, the more orange, and looser, your masa will be. Add 1/2 cup-1 cup of the ham broth to the masa to make it smoother.
• Cut the banana leaves into rectangles that measure 7 1/2-inches by 6-inches. Gather the rest of the components to make the pasteles: the pork filling, masa, any add-ins (red pepper slices and olives), and the achiote oil.You also need a pair of scissors, sheets of parchment paper, and butcher's twine cut in strings 40-inches long.
• Lay a banana leaf in the center of a parchment rectangle. Spread a tablespoon of the achiote oil onto banana leaf. Take a large spoonful, or 1/2-cup, of the masa and spread it on the leaf in an oval that leaves a 1-inch margin of banana leaf showing.
• Top the masa with a 1/4 cup of the pork filling, followed by tablespoon of the broth from the pork filling. Top the meat with two strips of red pepper and two olives.
• Bring the two long edges of the paper rectangle up to meet each other over the pastel. Once the edges are lined up, fold the paper over one inch. Now, fold the parchment over in half to form a band that's almost as wide as the pastel. Fold one-inch of paper on the short end of the bundle towards the pastel. Now, fold the "tail" or unfilled end of paper towards the center of the bundle. It should reach the center of the pastel. Repeat on the opposite side.
• Tie the pastel with a piece of twine in a cross pattern to keep the paper from opening in the pot.Next, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a rapid boil. Once the water's boiling, add your test pastel to the pot and boil it for 30-35 minutes. After cooking, remove it from the pot and unwrap it. Taste the pastel to see if it needs more adobo or salt. Adjust the seasoning in the masa to taste.Continue to assemble and wrap the pasteles.
• Once all of the pasteles have been assembled and wrapped, tie them in bundles of two. Stack two pasteles with the folded ends touching each other. Grab a length of twine. Hold the string's loop in one hand and two loose ends in the other.Slide the string under the stacked pasteles, making sure the bundle's short end sits right in the middle of the two strings.
• Bring the three fingers of the hand with the looped end up. Go through the loop with those fingers and grab the two strings in the other hand. Pull the two loose ends through the loop and towards the sides of the bundle. Flip the bundle over and bring the string's edges under the two strands on the backside (formed earlier by the loop). Tie the two loose ends in a knot. Continue tying until all of the bundles are secure.
• Refrigerate the pasteles after assembling and wrapping them. Pack them in a food gallon-size freezer storage bag in docenas (or bundles of 6) to make a dozen pasteles per bag. Freeze the pasteles for 6-8 months.
• Cook the pasteles straight from the freezer: bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add a 1/4-cup of salt to the water and allow it a few seconds to dissolve. Slide the bundles of frozen pasteles into the boiling water and boil them for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. If you're boiling fresh, unfrozen pasteles, you only need to cook them for 30-40 minutes.
• Once the pasteles are cooked, lift them from the pot using a kitchen fork or tongs and set them in a colander set inside the sink to drain a bit. Cut the strings off of the bundles. Cut both ends of the paper off before unwrapping the pastel and sliding it from the banana leaf onto a plate.
• Serve your Pasteles on their own, with Pernil, Arroz con Gandules, and potato salad, or with a side salad.