CHAMORRO EMPANADA

(im-pa-na-da)

Empanadas are popular all over the world, espcially in Spanish speaking countries. Guam's Chamorro empanada, however has one look and one taste. The crust is made of masa harina flavored with achote; the filling is ground rice and achote with chicken. The Chamorro empanada recipe in Remember Guam is crunchy and supremely tasty. Goya con y cilantro is used to enhance the taste, though it is optional. 

I ran out of wax paper one day so I subsituted with the fold-top sandwich bags. You simply sandwich the dough between the long, straight side of the bag, leaving the folded sleeve on the outside; close the empanada press as usual and walla, it's done. You can find an empanada press on-line where it is referred to as a "tortilla press."

In analyzing the nutritional data for my empanada recipe in "Remember Guam," I decided to use a 1/4-cup measuring cup for the dough and filling instead of eyeballing the dough to the size of a golfball and using 2 to 3 tbsp. of filling. Simply scoop the empanada dough into a 1/4-cup measuring cup, ensuring the dough does not extend beyond the rims; do the same for the filling. Using this method, one batch of chalakiles and two batches of dough make 46 large, full and yummy empanadas!

A trick for leftover empanada is to place one in each slice of your toaster. I keep my heat on the highest setting then toast the empanada about three to four times, as long as it does not burn. Alternate the end that is pointing down with every toast. It comes out crispy and yummy with even less oil because I stored the empanada on a napkin-lined container.

from a fan:  "Paula, Aloha and Hafa Adai! Hey, we used your youtube instruction for making empanadas...what a HIT!!! Thanks very much for the posting and keep up the teach!"

Check-out how to make chalakiles first because it is the filling for the empanada.

How to make empanada video     Empanada Nutritional Data     Return to Remember Guam    

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