Ingredients
SEASONING FOR BATTER
- 3 lbs. white yautia (peeled)
- 8 bags green cooking bananas (peeled)
- 2-1/2 heaping tbsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. adobo
- 2 packets Sazon
- 2 large spoonfuls FREAKIN RICAN SOFRITO
- 7-9 large spoonfuls meat juice
- 2 large spoonfuls achote
- SEASONING FOR MEAT
- 8-10 lbs. pork shoulder
- 1-1/2 lbs. smoked cooking ham with bone
- 1 package salted pork
- 1 tbsp. cumin
- 1 tbsp. oregano
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 2 tbsp. salt
- 3 packets Sazon
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- You will also need:
banana leaves (wash off with a damp washcloth)
- Spanish olives
- sliced roasted red pepper
- parchment paper
Directions
- First, dice up pork shoulder and let marinate in apple cider vinegar for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut off skin and dice up the smoked ham as well as the salted pork. They should be about 1-inch pieces.
- Put the meats in a dutch oven pot over a medium high flame. Add Sofrito to the pot, stir and cover.
- Now rinse off the pork shoulder with water and drain all the water.
- Add pork to the other meats.
- Add the seasoning to the meat: garlic powder, cumin oregano, salt, Sazon, tomato sauce and achote.
- Mix everything together very well. Cover and cook for 45 minutes and lower the flame.
- While that is cooking, you can prepare the batter: Chop up and grate all the yautia and green bananas. Mix very well. Then add the seasoning for the batter.
- Once the meat is cooked and the batter is made, put parchment paper down and place a banana leaf on it.
- Coat the middle of the leaf with achote.
- Then put a spoonful (a large metal mixing spoon) of batter and then some meat (without any juice) on top of the batter. Place 2 olives and 2 slices of roasted red pepper on top in one straight line.
- Take the bottom of the parchment paper and banana leaf and fold it half way up, then fold down to where you feel the batter. Flip and fold up.
- Then take the sides of your hands to crimp the sides, and then fold so ends are on the bottom of the rectangle.
- Take the string and make it so it loops at the top of the rectangle.
- Take the bottom ends of the string and pull up and through the loop at the top of the rectangle (slip knot).
- Then take ends and wrap around short sides of the rectangle twice and tie off like a shoelace.
- Put 2 Pasteles at a time into a pot of boiling water. Add a pinch of salt, and cover.
- Cook on a low-medium flame for about a ½ hour.
- Be very careful when removing Pasteles from the boiling water! Carefully remove the parchment paper, cut the string, open the banana leaf and enjoy!
our chefs
