Puerto Rican Day Parade Nom Nom: Alcapurrias

New Yorker’s famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask while strolling the mostly empty city streets that weekend) Puerto Rican Day Parade is coming up this Sunday, June 14th and we intend to celebrate by stuffing ourselves full of delicious fried food and making absolutely no attempt to explain that difference between Cuba and Puerto Rico and why neither of us is Dominican. 

Ingredients

For the masa:

1. 5 green plantains
2. 1 pound taro root
3. 2 tsp. salt
4. 1 tsp. vinegar
5. 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
6. 1 small envelope sazón with achiote coloring
7. Vegetable cooking oil for deep frying

For the filling:

1. 1/2 pound chopped meat
2. 1 tbsp. sofrito
3. 8 oz. tomato sauce
4. 1/2 tsp. salt
5. 1 small envelope sazón
6. 6-8 chopped olives
7. 1 tsp. capers
8. 1 medium garlic clove
9. 2 oz. chopped cooking ham
10. 1 tsp. dried oregano
11. 1/4 tsp. vinegar

Directions

Wash and peel the taro.

Peel bananas and wash with salted water.

Grate taro and bananas and add salt, vinegar, oil and sazón.

Mix well and set aside

In a deep pot, fry the meat until evenly browned.

Drain the grease and add garlic, ham, oregano, vinegar, salt, olives, capers, sazón, sofrito and tomato sauce.

Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat

Cook, covered, for 15 minutes.

Uncover and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally..

Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons onto a plantain leaf or wax paper, creating a shallow well.

Place 1 1/2 teaspoon of the meat filling into the center of the well and cover completely. 

Deep fry the alcapurrias in vegetable oil until crispy. 

Allow them to cool and drain before eating

Alcapurrias [Rican Recipes]