Bollo de Plátano Relleno de Camarón Seco

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy pot for cooking the plantains
• •Wooden masher or metate for pounding the plantain
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chile and roasting vegetables
• •Molcajete for grinding the shrimp filling
• •Wide heavy skillet or clay cazuela for frying

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the plantains

   Cut the ends from the plátanos machos and score the skins lengthwise. Place them in a pot, cover with water, and simmer for 18 to 22 minutes, until a knife slides through the flesh without resistance. Drain, cool just enough to handle, then peel. Do not wait until they are cold. Warm plantain pounds smoother.

2. 2

   Pound the dough

   Place the warm plantain flesh in a large bowl or on a metate if you have one. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and pound with a wooden masher until the plantain becomes a smooth, sticky dough. It should hold together when pressed in your palm. If it spreads like puree, work in 1 tablespoon masa harina. That is a correction, not the goal.

   Do not use a food processor here. It turns the plantain gummy. Pound it. The women who perfected this knew what their hands were doing.
3. 3

   Soften the shrimp

   Rinse the dried shrimp briefly to remove surface salt. Cover with hot water for 10 minutes, then drain, saving 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid. Chop the shrimp very finely or pulse once or twice in a blender. You want a rough paste, not powder. The filling should still taste like shrimp.

4. 4

   Toast the chile

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile costeño for 10 to 15 seconds per side, just until fragrant and flexible. Watch it. This chile is small and burns fast. Burned chile makes the filling bitter, and no lime at the table will save it.

5. 5

   Grind the filling

   In a molcajete, grind the toasted chile costeño with the roasted garlic and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the roasted onion and tomato and work them into a thick paste. Stir in the chopped dried shrimp, epazote, and Mexican oregano. Add a spoonful of shrimp soaking liquid only if the paste is too dry to hold together.

6. 6

   Fry the paste

   Melt 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a small clay cazuela or skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp paste and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until it darkens slightly and smells concentrated. La manteca es el sabor. This step wakes up the chile and takes the raw edge off the tomato.

7. 7

   Shape the bollos

   Rub a little manteca on your hands. Divide the plantain dough into 12 portions. Flatten one portion into a thick oval in your palm, place 1 heaping teaspoon of shrimp filling in the center, then fold the plantain around it and seal completely. Shape into a short oval bollo. If filling leaks out now, it will leak harder in the pan. Seal it properly.

8. 8

   Fry until dark

   Melt the 1 1/2 cups manteca de cerdo in a wide heavy skillet over medium heat. Fry the bollos in batches, turning carefully, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the outside is dark mahogany with a thin crisp edge. Not pale gold. Dark. The sugar in the ripe plantain has to caramelize. Drain on a rack, not paper towels, so the edges stay firm.

9. 9

   Serve Costa Chica style

   Lay the bollos on banana leaf squares or a warm clay plate. Serve with lime wedges and salsa de chile costeño. Eat them warm or at room temperature. That is why they travel well for picnics and market days. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy plátano macho, not the small sweet banana you eat raw. It should be ripe with black patches, but not leaking or fermented. If it smells alcoholic, it has gone too far.
• •Chile costeño is the correct chile for this Costa Chica filling. If you cannot find it, chile guajillo with one chile de arbol gives color and bite, but it will not taste like Guerrero. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Dried shrimp vary in salt. Taste before adding extra salt to the filling. Some are mild and sweet, some taste like the Pacific decided to shout.
• •Manteca de cerdo gives the bollo its edge and its smell. Vegetable oil will fry it, yes, but it will not carry the filling the same way. No me vengas con atajos.
• •These are not dessert. The ripe plantain brings sweetness, but the chile costeño, dried shrimp, and epazote make the bollo savory. That balance is the point.

Advance Preparation

• •The shrimp filling can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before shaping so it seals cleanly inside the plantain.
• •The plantain dough can be pounded up to 1 day ahead. Press plastic directly against the surface and refrigerate. Warm it slightly before shaping or it will crack.
• •Formed, unfried bollos can be held covered in the refrigerator for 8 hours. Fry them just before serving, or fry ahead and rewarm on a comal until the edges firm again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 115g)