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empanada dough

how do you make empanada dough so it won't fall apart when you fill it of deep fry it? thanks

By fill on May 6, 2006, 08:01 in Friendly Talkzone.

adrimm (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on May 6, 2006, 12:56:

ok this is going to sound rather odd, I don't know how it compares to the true dough recipe, but if you mix in 1/3 parts of pancake mix into your flour (corn or other) & water mixture the dough holds together very well.

You have to use it within the hour (to make the empanadas, not cook them) though becuase it does loose it's elasticity.

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kernow62 says on May 6, 2006, 19:42:

That does sound odd, you are right.

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adrimm (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on May 6, 2006, 19:53:

LOL Necessity is the mother of invention. This one stemmed from a life in northern Canada a few decades ago, when ordering specialty foods was unheard of.

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Crazy4Cali says on May 6, 2006, 21:34:

mi cocinera dice you need to use pre-cooked corn flour. we tried it with regular corn flour and had miserable results. The stuff we use is called P.A.N. Harina de maiz blanco precocida and it's some gooooood cookin'!

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platano says on May 6, 2006, 23:07:

Why not use areparina? You can make empanadas easily if you have a supermarket which stocks areparina, such as Fiesta in Houston does. I'm sure Miami, NY and LA also have it.

plátano

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Crazy4Cali says on May 7, 2006, 09:23:

Well.... That works when you're near one of those towns, but out here in the great Pacific Northwet, those tiendas are hard to come by.

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platano says on May 7, 2006, 11:58:

Perhaps you could try a mail order? Here is a website: "COMOENCOLOMBIA"... PARA QUE LOS COLOMBIANOS EN EL EXTERIOR SE SIENTAN I have no idea how reliable they are... they use DHL so you would have tracking.

http://www.comoencolombia.com/sugerencias_productos.htm

Or, better, have a friend in one of those cities send it to you. Our kids in Houston do that for us.

In Walmart we have found Areparina Quaker - yellow corn flour . Net weight : 500 gramos ( 17.6 oz )plátano

plátano

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oldbongo says on May 7, 2006, 12:52:

on the coast.. we use PAN harina de maiz amarrilo..
and the way you do it:

harina in the bowl.
add a little warm water and a very little milk.
add salt and pinch of sugar.
mix to hold together stiff.
too dry,..add a drop of water.
too wet,..add harina.
let sit covered for 10 min or so.
make arepas or empanadas...
enjoy.

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adrimm (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on May 7, 2006, 13:06:

..and if for whatever reason You don't have any kind of corn flour, in desperate pinch plain old wheat flour (with some pancake mix to keep it elastic) works.

People get all excited about "fusion food", but I really suspect much of it is the fancy way to say "substituting for hard-to-come by ingredients".

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platano says on May 7, 2006, 13:11:

In Colombia they got excited about my fusion juices... Apparently it had never occurred to anyone to mix juices: pineapple and orange juice, or mango and fresa, or lulo and limon... I made up lots of creative combinations.... and got lots of incredulous refusals to even sample them. :-)
plátano

plátano

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kernow62 says on May 9, 2006, 06:42:

I think Oldgringo has got it. I gave it a try and it works great.

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oldbongo says on May 9, 2006, 13:53:

thank you... for that fine testimonial.

the oldgringo should now retire gracefully,
knowing he has set the world straight.

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