Shrimp Empanadas, Veracruz Style (Empanadas de Camarón)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles and roasting jitomates
• •Tortilla press lined with two sheets of plastic
• •Blender and fine-mesh strainer
• •Wide 12-inch clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven for frying
• •Kitchen spider or slotted spoon and wire rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make shrimp broth

   Keep the chopped shrimp cold while you work. Put the reserved shrimp shells in a small saucepan with the water and bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 8 minutes, just long enough for the water to taste like the Gulf. Strain and discard the shells and bay leaf. You should have about 1 cup of quick shrimp broth.

2. 2

   Toast the guajillo

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo one at a time, about 20 seconds per side, until the skin darkens slightly and the chile smells fruity and deep. Do not blacken them. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with the hot shrimp broth for 15 minutes.

   Guajillo gives color and clean red flavor. It is not there to punish anybody. Burn it and you get bitterness, not character.
3. 3

   Blend the sauce

   On the same comal, roast the jitomates, onion, and garlic until they have blackened spots and soften at the edges. Peel the garlic. Blend the soaked guajillo, roasted jitomates, onion, garlic, 3/4 cup of the shrimp broth, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Guajillo skins can be stubborn. A smooth sauce makes a clean filling.

4. 4

   Cook the guisado

   Heat the olive oil in a clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium. Add the strained sauce and fry it for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until it turns brick red and the oil gathers at the edges. Stir in the Mexican oregano, olives, and capers. Add the chopped shrimp and epazote and cook 60 to 90 seconds, only until the shrimp starts turning pink. The filling must be thick, not soupy. It will finish in the fryer. Spread it on a plate and cool completely.

   Wet filling breaks empanadas. If the spoon leaves a clean trail across the pan, you are ready. If liquid runs back into the trail, keep cooking.
5. 5

   Prepare the masa

   Mix the masa harina with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water and melted manteca de cerdo. Knead for 3 minutes until the masa feels soft and alive, like an earlobe, and does not crack when pressed. Cover with a damp towel and rest 20 minutes. Masa harina is thirsty. If the edges crack, knead in water 1 tablespoon at a time.

6. 6

   Press and fill

   Divide the masa into 12 balls. Line a tortilla press with two pieces of plastic from a clean produce bag. Press one ball into a 5 1/2-inch round, not paper thin. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of cold shrimp guisado onto one half, leaving a clean border. Use the plastic to fold the masa over the filling, then press the edge firmly with your fingers to seal. Do not overfill. The señora at Mercado Hidalgo who taught me this chopped the shrimp small for a reason: para que alcance y para que no rompa la masa.

7. 7

   Fry in manteca

   Melt the frying lard in a wide heavy pot or cazuela to a depth of about 1 1/2 inches and heat to 350F. Fry 2 or 3 empanadas at a time, turning once, until deep golden with darker freckles, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. La manteca es el sabor, and it gives fried masa the clean crisp edge you are after. Let the lard come back to temperature between batches.

   Cold fat makes greasy empanadas. Crowding the pot drops the temperature. No me vengas con atajos.
8. 8

   Serve immediately

   Drain the empanadas on a wire rack, not a stack of paper towels where they soften underneath. Pile them on a warm red clay platter and serve with lime wedges and salsa roja de chile seco. They should be crisp at the rim, tender where the masa meets the filling, and red inside from guajillo and jitomate. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy shell-on shrimp if you can. The shells give you the quick broth that makes the guajillo sauce taste like seafood instead of plain tomato. Peeled shrimp saves time and costs you flavor.
• •Good chile guajillo should be pliable, shiny, and smell faintly of dried fruit. If it is dusty and brittle, it is old. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado before you buy.
• •Olive oil in the guisado is Veracruz port cooking. Manteca de cerdo in the masa and fryer is market empanada cooking. Both belong here. This is a 32-state cuisine, not one rule for every pot.
• •Fresh nixtamalized masa from a tortillería is better than masa harina. Use 2 pounds fresh masa and knead in the lard and salt, skipping the masa harina and water. Masa harina works, but it is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The filling must be cool before you fold the empanadas. Hot filling sweats, softens the masa, and opens the seam in the fryer. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

Advance Preparation

• •The shrimp guisado can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it close to room temperature before filling so it spreads without tearing the masa.
• •The masa is best mixed the day you fry. If it sits too long, it dries at the edges and cracks when folded.
• •Unfried empanadas can be formed up to 2 hours ahead, covered with a damp towel, and refrigerated. Let them stand 15 minutes before frying.
• •Fried empanadas are best immediately. If you must reheat them, use a 375F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not microwave them unless you enjoy ruining your own work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)