Empanadas de Camote Guerrerenses

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart pot or deep cazuela for frying
• •Rolling pin or clean glass bottle
• •Wooden spoon for thickening the camote
• •Kitchen thermometer
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the camote

   Put the scrubbed camotes in a pot and cover with cold water by one inch. Bring to a steady simmer and cook until a knife slides through the center without resistance, 30 to 40 minutes depending on their size. Drain them and let them cool just until you can handle them. Peel while warm. Warm camote mashes cleanly. Cold camote fights you.

2. 2

   Make the syrup

   In a wide saucepan, combine the piloncillo, 1/2 cup water, canela, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer over medium heat until the piloncillo dissolves and the syrup smells dark and mineral, 8 to 10 minutes. Do not replace piloncillo with white sugar and pretend nothing changed. Piloncillo carries cane flavor. That is the point.

3. 3

   Thicken the filling

   Mash the peeled camote into the piloncillo syrup. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens enough to hold a path when you drag the spoon across the bottom of the pan, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Remove the canela and cool the filling completely. If it goes into the dough warm, it will soften the pastry and leak in the lard.

4. 4

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and crushed anise seed. Rub in the manteca with your fingers until the flour looks sandy and holds together when squeezed. Add 3/4 cup warm water and knead just until a smooth, firm dough forms, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the extra water only if dry flour remains. The dough should feel like a soft earlobe, not bread dough.

   Fresh manteca de cerdo gives the pastry its tenderness. Shortening makes a pale shell with no character. No me vengas con atajos.
5. 5

   Rest the dough

   Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and rest it for 25 minutes. This lets the flour hydrate and makes rolling easier. Women in the Chilapa market do this without naming the science. They know the dough behaves better after it sits. That is knowledge too.

6. 6

   Shape the empanadas

   Divide the dough into 18 balls. Roll each one on a lightly floured surface into a 5-inch circle. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of cooled camote filling slightly off center. Fold into a half-moon and press the edges firmly. Seal with the tines of a fork or twist the edge into a simple repulgue. Do not overfill them. A burst empanada wastes good camote and dirties the fat.

7. 7

   Heat the fat

   Heat the lard or oil in a heavy pot to 350F. The fat should be deep enough for the empanadas to float, about 2 inches. Fresh lard gives the cleanest Guerrero market flavor. If you use oil, use a neutral one and understand the compromise. La manteca es el sabor.

8. 8

   Fry until golden

   Fry 3 or 4 empanadas at a time, turning once, until golden with small blisters across the surface, 3 to 4 minutes total. Keep the fat between 340F and 355F. Too cool and the pastry drinks grease. Too hot and the outside browns before the edge cooks through. Drain on a rack, not paper towels, so the bottoms stay crisp.

9. 9

   Coat and serve

   Mix the sugar and ground canela in a shallow bowl. While the empanadas are still warm, toss them gently in the cinnamon sugar. Serve them piled on a clay platter with coffee de olla or atole. They are best the day they are fried, when the shell still gives under your teeth and the camote inside is soft and dark with piloncillo.

Chef Tips

• •Buy camotes that feel heavy for their size and have no wet spots. In Guerrero, vendors know which ones cook sweet and dry. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. They will tell you faster than a supermarket label.
• •Cook the filling until it is thick. If it slides around the spoon like puree for a baby, keep cooking. Empanada filling must sit still.
• •Use Mexican canela, the soft, brittle cinnamon, not hard cassia sticks if you can avoid them. Canela gives a warmer flavor and breaks easily when you need ground cinnamon for the sugar.
• •There is no chile in this recipe. Do not add cayenne because someone told you Mexican food must be hot. That is ignorance with a spice jar.
• •If you need to fry in oil, choose a clean neutral oil and keep the temperature steady. But fresh manteca gives the pastry a tenderness oil does not. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.

Advance Preparation

• •The camote filling can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before filling the empanadas so it spreads without tearing the dough.
• •The dough can rest, covered, at room temperature for up to two hours. For longer storage, refrigerate it overnight and let it soften before rolling.
• •Shaped, uncooked empanadas can be held on a floured tray in the refrigerator for up to four hours. Fry them directly from chilled, adding about 30 seconds to the cooking time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 85g)