Empanadas Venezolanas
Empanadas are signature dish of many Latin American countries. In this recipe we will be talking about the Venezuelan empanada.
In Venezuela the empanadas have a variety of filling, starting from: chicken stew, pulled beef stews, white cheese, ham and cheese, school shark (known in Venezuela as Cazon) or even delicious empanada domino, which name is elusive to the surprising filling of left over black bean stew and white cheese.
No matter what filling you choose for your empanada, I guarantee only satisfaction!
This recipe yields medium 10 empanadas or 20 mini ones.
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups of water
2 cups of corn flour (white or yellow)
½ tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sugar
1 Tbsp. Annatto oil (this is optional).
Vegetable oil to fry
Directions:
1. In a bowl add water, salt, sugar and mix. Once that is combined sprinkle the flour and mix with hand. At last add the annatto oil and mix again.
2. Take hand-full portions of the dough and make balls, place ball in a wax or plastic pieces of paper and thin out the ball until you have flat-round dough.
3. Tracing an imaginary line in the middle of the flat circle, add the filling to one of the half, and fold the other half over, press gently the edges to close, forming now a semi circled shape.
4. Deep fry until golden-brown.
Tips:
1. Make empanadas an hour in advanced and keep covered in the fridge, fry when they are going to be consume. They are great as an appetizer or party snacks (mini-size).
2. As mentioned before fillings vary. Be inventive make the empanadas your own dish signature, some suggestions: octopus, shrimp, French cheeses, etc.
Enjoy!
