The
Kulinarya website defined this word as a
movement to inspire everyone to refine Filipino cuisine. Although I was born and raised in the Philippines, my knowledge of Filipino food is still limited and while growing up with my late-Father’s Chinese cooking, Filipino food was more of a side dish. Back then, Filipino dishes don’t look presentable enough to be served in a fine dining restaurant and they’re swimming in oil most of the time. I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of Filipino food only a few years ago as many Filipino chefs are reinventing Filipino cuisine to its highest standards.
This is my first time to join the
Kulinarya Cooking Club (see below) and this month’s theme is empanada. Empanada is a Spanish or Portuguese stuffed bread or pastry using ground beef as the main filling. But chicken or tuna can be substituted. I did have second thoughts on my last minute contribution of my empanada for this cooking club but I think they’re still worth writing it despite joining the club on the eleventh hour, the incomplete ingredients, the hurry, and the summer heat.
First is the pastry. I have butter at home but not enough to make a full pastry dough. But I do have some coconut oil and I found a pastry dough recipe using coconut oil from
101 Cookbooks . Making pastry dough in the middle of summer is a pain to do. My first mistake is chilling the coconut oil until they’re solidified. The chilled oil should still be liquid yet very thick in consistency. Second mistake is that I didn’t use all of the water. I thought I had enough when it formed into a dough. Third, the recipe states to set aside ¼ cup of the flour but I used all of them. Fourth, I forgot to add the vinegar.
Speaking of reading instructions! So, the result is a crumbly dough that breaks easily but I was able to recover some of it. It wasn’t the best pastry dough I’ve ever made but it’s something to learn the next time I’m going to make it again. This is definitely a nontraditional dough but feel free to use a recipe dough for empanadas. And I chilled everything (bowl and flours) before making the dough.
I have never make empanadas at home because I prefer to buy them than make them. And I didn't grow up eating them. For my filling, I’m supposed to make roasted chicken with mushrooms, raisins and boiled egg but I ended up combining it with green peas, salted egg and pickled mangoes (fermented mangoes or burong mangga). These are not your traditional ingredients for empanadas but I guess including ingredients that are loved by Filipinos will justify it, I hope. The filling itself is really good but when baked in a pastry, the flavor of the mangoes and the salted eggs have diminished. And I prefer them raw. Lesson learned. I will definitely make this again with the same pastry dough but with a slightly different filling and with a more Filipino flair.
Makes 6 empanadas
Pastry Dough (recipe and procedure through
101 Cookbooks)
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons turmeric
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup chilled coconut oil
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water
Filling
½ roasted chicken
1 salted egg
1 medium onion
½ cup diced pickled mango
½ cup frozen green peas
1 tbsp coconut oil
Unrefined sea salt
1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 – 1 cup chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper
, combine 1 1/2 cups of the white flour with the pastry flour, turmeric, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set the remaining 1/4 cup white flour aside. Add the coconut butter to the flour mixture and rub with your fingertip until the mixture resembles fine sand.
Combine the vinegar and water and mix well. Then, without overworking the dough, add the vinegar mixture by the tablespoon, while stirring, just until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and begins to coalesce. Squeeze into a tight ball, flatten, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
remove the chicken meat from the bones and cut into cubes. Then, peel the salted egg and cut into dice. Finely chop the onion and gather the pickled mango and green peas.
heat a pan over medium high heat and add coconut oil, followed by the onion and salt. Sweat the onions until soft and translucent. Stir in the flour and cook for another 3 minutes. The add half of the chicken stock and bring to simmer. Cook the until the mixture thickens and the flour is no longer raw. Add the chicken and green peas and cook for another 2 minutes. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more of the stock. Turn off the heat, transfer to another bowl and add the salted egg and pickled mango. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius) and remove the dough from the refrigerator.
With the reserved flour, lightly dust a clean surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut six 6-inch circles from the dough (you can use a bowl). Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling onto the center of one side of each circle, leaving about a 1/8-inch border. Fold the other half over to make a half-moon, press to seal, and make ridges around the edge using a fork.
Transfer empanadas in a parchment-line baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve
Notes:
The filling yields 10-12 servings while the dough only yields about six 6-inch circles.
When I brought the dough out from the refrigerator, I can't roll them right away. . I waited for about 8-10 minutes before rolling the dough.
Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies (
Kath ,
Trish a and
Trissa ) living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.
If you’re interested in joining our
Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by our foodblogs and leave a comment – we would love to hear from you!
Here are the members of the Kulinarya Cooking Club!
Love and light,
Print Recipe
First is the pastry. I have butter at home but not enough to make a full pastry dough. But I do have some coconut oil and I found a pastry dough recipe using coconut oil from 101 Cookbooks . Making pastry dough in the middle of summer is a pain to do. My first mistake is chilling the coconut oil until they’re solidified. The chilled oil should still be liquid yet very thick in consistency. Second mistake is that I didn’t use all of the water. I thought I had enough when it formed into a dough. Third, the recipe states to set aside ¼ cup of the flour but I used all of them. Fourth, I forgot to add the vinegar. Speaking of reading instructions! So, the result is a crumbly dough that breaks easily but I was able to recover some of it. It wasn’t the best pastry dough I’ve ever made but it’s something to learn the next time I’m going to make it again. This is definitely a nontraditional dough but feel free to use a recipe dough for empanadas. And I chilled everything (bowl and flours) before making the dough.
I have never make empanadas at home because I prefer to buy them than make them. And I didn't grow up eating them. For my filling, I’m supposed to make roasted chicken with mushrooms, raisins and boiled egg but I ended up combining it with green peas, salted egg and pickled mangoes (fermented mangoes or burong mangga). These are not your traditional ingredients for empanadas but I guess including ingredients that are loved by Filipinos will justify it, I hope. The filling itself is really good but when baked in a pastry, the flavor of the mangoes and the salted eggs have diminished. And I prefer them raw. Lesson learned. I will definitely make this again with the same pastry dough but with a slightly different filling and with a more Filipino flair.
Makes 6 empanadas
Pastry Dough (recipe and procedure through 101 Cookbooks)
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons turmeric
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup chilled coconut oil
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water
Filling
½ roasted chicken
1 salted egg
1 medium onion
½ cup diced pickled mango
½ cup frozen green peas
1 tbsp coconut oil
Unrefined sea salt
1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 – 1 cup chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper
, combine 1 1/2 cups of the white flour with the pastry flour, turmeric, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set the remaining 1/4 cup white flour aside. Add the coconut butter to the flour mixture and rub with your fingertip until the mixture resembles fine sand.
Combine the vinegar and water and mix well. Then, without overworking the dough, add the vinegar mixture by the tablespoon, while stirring, just until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and begins to coalesce. Squeeze into a tight ball, flatten, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
remove the chicken meat from the bones and cut into cubes. Then, peel the salted egg and cut into dice. Finely chop the onion and gather the pickled mango and green peas.
heat a pan over medium high heat and add coconut oil, followed by the onion and salt. Sweat the onions until soft and translucent. Stir in the flour and cook for another 3 minutes. The add half of the chicken stock and bring to simmer. Cook the until the mixture thickens and the flour is no longer raw. Add the chicken and green peas and cook for another 2 minutes. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more of the stock. Turn off the heat, transfer to another bowl and add the salted egg and pickled mango. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius) and remove the dough from the refrigerator.
With the reserved flour, lightly dust a clean surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut six 6-inch circles from the dough (you can use a bowl). Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling onto the center of one side of each circle, leaving about a 1/8-inch border. Fold the other half over to make a half-moon, press to seal, and make ridges around the edge using a fork.
Transfer empanadas in a parchment-line baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve
Notes:
When I brought the dough out from the refrigerator, I can't roll them right away. . I waited for about 8-10 minutes before rolling the dough.
Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies ( Kath , Trish a and Trissa ) living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.
Here are the members of the Kulinarya Cooking Club!
Love and light,
Print Recipe