Pastel de Palmito

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Rolling pin
• •Heavy 4-liter pot for frying
• •Slotted spoon or spider
• •Kitchen thermometer
• •Wire rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and stir them together. Add the oil, cachaça or vinegar, and 1 cup warm water. Mix with a spoon until shaggy, then knead with your hands for about 5 minutes, until the dough turns smooth and firm but not dry. The cachaça or vinegar helps the crust fry crisp and blistered, because it weakens the dough just enough and evaporates fast in the oil.

   If the dough has dry flour at the bottom after kneading, add warm water 1 tablespoon at a time. If it's sticky, dust in a little flour. A good pastel dough feels like an earlobe, soft but not clingy.
2. 2

   Rest the dough

   Wrap the dough or cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Don't skip this. Resting relaxes the flour so the dough rolls thin instead of springing back like it's arguing with you.

3. 3

   Build the refogado

   Warm 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it murcha, soft and see-through, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute, just until you smell it. This is where the flavor starts, and burnt garlic is bitter enough to ruin the whole little party.

4. 4

   Thicken the filling

   Add the tomato and cook until it breaks down and the pan looks juicy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chopped palmito, salt, and pepper, then sprinkle in 1 tablespoon flour and stir for 1 minute so the raw flour taste cooks out. Pour in the milk and cook, stirring, until the filling gets creamy and holds its shape on the spoon. A loose filling leaks in hot oil. A thick filling behaves.

   Jarred or canned palmito is the honest shortcut here. Drain it well and taste it first, because some brands are saltier than others. The cost is texture: fresh is firmer, preserved is softer, but both work.
5. 5

   Cool the filling

   Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley. Spread the filling on a plate and let it cool until it's barely warm. Hot filling softens the dough and weakens the seal, and then the pastel opens in the oil like it has opinions.

6. 6

   Roll it thin

   Divide the dough into 12 pieces. On a lightly floured counter, roll one piece into a thin rectangle, about 5 by 7 inches. You should almost see the shadow of your fingers through it, but it shouldn't tear. Thin dough puffs and blisters; thick dough fries heavy and chewy.

7. 7

   Fill and seal

   Spoon 2 tablespoons cooled filling onto one side of the dough, leaving a clean border. Fold the dough over, press out any trapped air, and seal the edges firmly with a fork. Air pockets expand in the oil and can burst the pastry, so press gently from the filling outward before crimping.

8. 8

   Heat the oil

   Pour 4 cups oil into a heavy pot, leaving plenty of space at the top, and heat to 180°C (350°F). If you don't have a thermometer, drop in a tiny scrap of dough: it should bubble right away and rise steadily, not sink quietly and not darken in seconds. Oil that's too cool makes greasy pastel; oil that's too hot browns the outside before the dough cooks.

9. 9

   Fry until blistered

   Fry 1 or 2 pastéis at a time, turning once, until puffed, blistered, and golden, about 2 to 3 minutes total. Don't crowd the pot. Too many pastéis drop the oil temperature, and then they soak up oil instead of frying crisp. Drain on a rack or paper towels and salt lightly while hot.

10. 10

    Serve hot

    Serve right away, when the crust is crisp under your teeth and the filling is creamy inside. Pastel waits badly. If you're feeding a crowd, keep the fried ones on a rack in a low oven while you finish the rest, but don't pretend they'll be better later. They won't.

Chef Tips

• •Drain the palmito well and chop it by hand, not into paste. You want tender little pieces in the creamy filling, because pastel de palmito should taste like palmito, not beige mystery.
• •Don't buy powdered soup or seasoning to make the filling taste creamy. That's imitation food doing theater. Onion, garlic, tomato, milk, and one spoon of flour already know the job.
• •A thermometer makes frying calmer. Without one, use the dough scrap test and adjust the heat between batches. The oil should bubble eagerly around the pastel, not roar like a panic.
• •Roll only a few pastéis before you start frying, then keep going in batches. If they sit too long already filled, the dough absorbs moisture from the filling and the seal gets weaker.
• •For a potluck, fry them close to serving time if you can. If you must travel, cool them on a rack first, then reheat uncovered in a hot oven until crisp again. Covered hot pastel sweats and goes soft.

Advance Preparation

• •The palmito filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Use it cold or barely cool, never hot.
• •The dough can rest in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling so it doesn't fight you.
• •Filled raw pastéis can be frozen on a tray, then bagged for up to 1 month. Fry from frozen at 180°C (350°F), adding 1 to 2 minutes, and watch the oil because frozen filling cools it down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 105g)