Steamed Pasteles Recipes

PUERTO RICAN PASTELES

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Brown the diced pork in olive oil in a large nonstick skillet.
• Add the sweet peppers, chopped onion, recaito, garlic, adobo, oregano, and bay leaf, stirring well. Cook until the pork is no longer pink inside. Remove the bay leaf from the mixture and set aside to cool.
• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, grate the peeled yautía and the green plantains (or cleaned and peeled yuca). Use disposable gloves, as uncooked plantains will stain your hands and kitchen towels.
• Blend the grated roots in a food processor until creamy.
• Place the masa over a cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve for at least three hours so the excess moisture drips out.
• Once the masa is ready, stir in the garlic, recaito, salt, and enough of the achiote oil to moisten the dough and add a little color. You are now ready to assemble and wrap the pasteles.
• Prepare a work surface to assemble and wrap the pasteles. If you have friends helping you, set up an assembly line. Prepare 20 (10 x 5-inch) banana leaves, 20 (8 x 4-inch) rectangles of parchment paper, and 20 (18-inch) pieces of kitchen string.
• For each pastel, lay out a piece of parchment paper, topped with 1 piece of banana leaf. Brush achiote oil in a rectangular shape on the center of the banana leaf.
• Spread 1 1/2 to 2 spoonfuls of masa onto the center of the leaf.
• Add 1 spoonful of pork filling and top with another spoonful of masa.
• Bring the edges of the banana leaf over the top of the pork filling. Then repeat with the other side of the banana leaf so that the masa completely covers the top of the filling.
• Bring the edges of the banana leaf together and fold down over the top.
• Fold the edges of the banana leaf underneath the package.
• Bring the top and bottom edges of the parchment paper over the top and fold or roll down the edges to make a horizontal seam. Tuck the ends under.
• Tie with a string in both directions. At this point, you can freeze any pasteles you are not going to cook and eat right away. Place them in resealable bags, date, label, and freeze.
• Bring a stock pot of salted water to a boil. Place the pasteles in the water, making sure they are submerged. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
• Using tongs, remove the pasteles from the boiling water and place them on a plate. Carefully cut the string of each with kitchen scissors and very carefully open the banana leaves and parchment paper. Place the pastel on a serving plate.

STEAMED PASTELES

Steps:

• Rinse pork meat and place in a large saucepan.
• Pour water and cook pork meat over low heat for 15 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients listed for the meat filling.
• Cover saucepan with lid and cook over low-medium heat for 50 minutes or until pork meat is thoroughly cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed. Set aside.
• Grate the starchy fruits and root vegetables using a food processor.
• Place dough into a large bowl and stir until well blended.
• Add salt and annatto oil and stir until the color of dough is uniform.
• Pour warm milk and stir dough until well blended.
• Clean plantain leaves with wet cloth on both sides.
• In the center of plantain leaf, place 3 heaping tablespoons of dough.
• Spread dough evenly in the center of the plantain leaf.
• Place 3 tablespoons of pork filling in the center of dough.
• Fold edges of dough towards the center to cover pork filling with a stainless steel spoon.
• Fold the plantain leaf lengthwise over dough mixture.
• Fold each end gently toward the center and place folded side down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Steam the pasteles in a large steamer for approximately 50 minutes. If the pasteles are frozen, they need to steam for an additional 15 minutes.

STEAMED SHRIMP

Steps:

• Set a steamer basket into a heavy saucepan and pour in enough water, so the steamer basket sits just on top of the water without touching it. Remove steamer basket and bring water to a boil.
• Meanwhile, butterfly the shrimp with a sharp paring knife, carefully running the knife 1 inch down the bottom of the shrimp without cutting all the way through. Press shrimp open.
• Set shrimp into the steamer basket and sprinkle with salt. Set steamer basket over the boiling water (shrimp should not touch the water).
• Steam shrimp until they are bright pink on the outside and the meat is opaque, carefully moving shrimp around using tongues so they cook evenly, about 5 minutes.
• Serve immediately or chill for later use.