Filipino Empanada Recipe- The Flying Couponer (2024)

FAQs

What are Filipino empanadas made of? ›

Filipino baked empanadas are made with a flakey and buttery puff pastry filled with beef picadillo.

Her recipe was Ilocos empanada, a turnover specialty from the northern province of the Philippines. It was her aunt who taught her this empanada with its crust made of rice flour colored orange with achuete and a filling of shredded green papaya, split monggo, longganisa and whole egg.

As history progressed, Spanish colonists brought the dish with them to Latin America and the Philippines. Argentina has become world-famous for their empanadas which are widely available in Buenos Aires and across the country as fast-food options and restaurant staples.

The key to what sets empanadas apart from rest is their unique look and style. Defining characteristics include the dough being folded over the stuffing to make a half-moon shape, and they're typically rather small. Five or six bites of yumminess for most— or one or two bites if you're my dad.

It's mostly a taste thing. It isn't about heat, it's about flavor and maybe less of a picante taste. I've had empanadas from the Philippines and they seemed more of a meaty gravy picante taste. The Mexican empanadas seem to revolve around a fruit filling.

Argentine empanadas with beef, cheese, or chicken. Chilean empanadas with beef, cheese, or seafood. Mexican empanadas with spicy beef, potato, or pumpkin.

Rice flour is used for making the crust or the shell. The galapong or rice flour dough is made a day before it is used. Atchuete or orange food color, salt and oil are mixed into the rice though. The dough mixture is then kneaded as thinly as possible on a banana leaf (wax paper is a good substitute).

The Batac version contains a whole egg, while the Vigan empanada historically uses just the yolks. As the story goes, churches used only egg whites in their mortar during Spanish colonial times. The practice left a surplus of yolks that locals used for cooking purposes.

Empanada dough is a type of shortcrust pastry. It's buttery and flaky, similar to the pastry used for pies like pumpkin pie, apple pie etc, but it's not sweet. You will love how it's so easy to work with. It's easier to work with than store bought puff pastry!

There are two kinds of Ilocos empanada: Batac (or Laoag) and Vigan. The differences are superficial and minute—the wrapper of the Batac one has an orange tinge from atsuete, while the empanada from Vigan has retained its natural colour.

Are empanadas healthy? ›

Empanadas are a rich source of proteins. They are a perfect combination of carbs and proteins, which makes them ideal for muscle gain and tissue repair. Empanadas are also a rich source of vitamins. They have a moderate amount of Vitamin B-6, which is essential for immunity and reducing stress.

Due to the large number of Galician immigrants in Latin America, the empanada gallega has also become popular in that region. The dish was carried to Latin America and the Philippines by Spanish colonists, where they remain very popular to this day.

Both cooking methods produce delicious empanadas. If you want a healthier merienda, bake them in the oven. If you're working with less time, frying them is the way to go. Try both and ask your loved ones to vote on their favorite.

Empanadas are the traditional Latin version of the hot pocket (Hot Pockets, natch, are the traditional American version). When I was little, my grandmother, who lived for years in South America, used to make a version with meat, golden raisins, olives, and hard-boiled egg.

The most iconic variety being the oven-baked empanada de pino, which is filled with ground beef, minced onion, half or a quarter of a hard-boiled egg, and a single unpitted black olive. Empanadas in Chile are eaten year-round and are either oven-baked or deep-fried; the latter is a popular street food.

Empanadas have their origin in the Spanish action Empanar connoting “wrap in bread.” Traditional empanadas hence are simply beef stuffing wrapped in pastry dough. Beef empanadas are small palm-sized meat pockets. They resemble the Arabian Samosas and Italian calzones.

Similar to an American turnover but far more versatile, an empanada is a fried or baked pastry shaped like a crescent moon. Once the bread has been made with flour dough or corn flour dough, it's then stuffed with myriad fillings depending on the occasion and your taste.