Pasteles (Puerto Rican Holiday Dish)
Pasteles are a household dish in the Puerto Rican culture. Though they can be made many different ways this is my recipe that I love. This process takes up to 2 days to complete so if you plan on making Pasteles you should invite people over to create and assembly line.
Pasteles are a household dish in the Puerto Rican culture. Though they can be made many different ways this is my recipe that I love. This process takes up to 2 days to complete so if you plan on making Pasteles you should invite people over to create and assembly line.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1.3 lb malanga (yautia)
- 3 lbs green bananas
- 1 lb potatoes
- 1 green plantain
- 2 tbsp milk
- 0.25 achiote oil
- 0.75 lb pork chopped and seasoned with adobo
- 2 tbsp achiote oil
- 3 oz. ham chopped
- 0.5 onion chopped
- 2 heads garlic minced)
- 2 ajies peppers minced
- 3 leaves culantro
- 0.5 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
- 0.5 cup green olives with pimiento (sliced)
- 6 oz pimiento (minced)
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 leaves (or wax paper)
- 0.5 cup achiote oil
- 1 cooking string
- 1 food processor
- Carbohydrate 34.3656491176956 g
- Cholesterol 15.5094536625 mg
- Fat 6.82529686347894 g
- Fiber 4.28975877383536 g
- Protein 6.84661219884042 g
- Saturated Fat 2.0874058551543 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (218g)
- Sodium 242.126986594448 mg
- Sugar 30.0758903438603 g
- Trans Fat 0.716213116708027 g
- Calories 214 calories
Step-by-step
- Peel Green bananas cut and place into food processor. Do the same with Malanga, potatoes, Plantain, Milk, Oil, and Salt. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate over night or for at least one hour. (HINT: If you plan on making Pasteles on your own it would be a good idea to take the masa and refrigerate it over night. If not have a pasteles making party and cool for one hour before making pasteles so that the masa is easier to manipulate.)
- In food processor combine Onion, Garlic, Ajies Pepper, and Pimiento. Mince well.
- Heat Oil in a large pan and cook pork and ham for 5 Minutes over medium heat. (HINT: You can use boneless pork chops to make life a bit easier for yourself. Some may ask why I have listed ham and pork. Although both pig product they are cut from different areas of the pig thus yielding different flavors. You can also use a ham steak with the bone for the ham chunks freezing leftovers for later.)
- Combine food processor ingredients with Recao Leaves, tomato sauce, Garbanzo beans, olives, salt, pepper, and oregano and cook on low for 25-30 Minutes. Let cool.
- Cut Banana leaves into 10 Inch squares. Wash, clean and blanch them if desired. (HINT: You do not have to use the banana leaves if you can not find them. You can use wax paper instead.)
- Grease the wrapper with the back of a spoon covered in Achiote Oil. Place a small amount of masa in the center of the wrapper then spread out not to thinly. (The idea is for the Pastel to be a rectangle shape so if you spread it out to far when wrapping the contents it will seep out and the size wont be uniform.) Place relleno in the center of masa and add a bit more masa on top.
- Fold wrapper so that the contents are completely wrapped into a small rectangle similar to a small brick shape. Use the cooking string to tie the pastel so that it does not fall apart. Wrap the pastel in aluminum foil and freeze.(Always freeze raw!)
- When ready to enjoy boil a large pot of water and place pasteles in the water for 1 hour (30 Minutes on each side).
- Combine both in saucepan and cook on low until oil turns reddish orange. Remove from heat and strain. You can toss the seeds away.
Glossy wrappers of banana leaf give way to a dense, steaming masa that yields bright orange achiote oil and a deeply savory pork filling. Balance the rich, starchy heaviness of the plantain and malanga dough by serving these parcels alongside crisp, vinegar-forward escabeche or a sharply acidic avocado and tomato salad. Acidity cuts cleanly through the rendered pork fat and earthy root vegetables without competing for palate space. Fermented hot sauces or a sharp pique add necessary heat to offset the comforting weight of the masa. Starch hydration dictates the final structural integrity of each pasteles parcel. Thoroughly chilling the processed masa for at least one hour before assembly allows the starches to relax and thicken, preventing the raw dough from thinning out and leaking through the wrapping during the boiling stage. Grating green bananas, malanga, and potatoes into a uniform paste creates the characteristic dense, smooth bite unique to this technique. Too much moisture in the vegetable blend ruins this texture, leading to a mushy interior instead of a firm, cohesive block. Wrapping the assembled bundles securely in cooking string ensures the contents remain sealed against boiling water while cooking for the full 60-minute duration. Raw assembly is mandatory; freezing the packages uncooked allows the raw masa and seasoned pork to cook simultaneously inside their wrappers when submerged in the rolling boil. Unwrapping the steaming packages reveals a fragrant steam that carries notes of culantro, oregano, and rendered achiote. Plating them while piping hot preserves the structural boundary between the savory pork interior and the outer starch layer. Leftovers store well in the freezer for months if wrapped securely in foil, maintaining their integrity until the next boiling session.
