Empanadas de Jaiba Ensenadenses

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Tortilla press lined with cut squares of freezer-bag plastic
• •Wide heavy skillet for the sofrito
• •Deep heavy pot or cazo for frying
• •Frying thermometer
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Slotted spoon or kitchen spider

Instructions

1. 1

   Pick the crab

   Spread the crab meat on a sheet pan in a thin layer. Run your fingers through it slowly, in good light, looking for shell fragments and the thin papery cartilage that hides between the lumps. There is always shell. The cooks at the Mercado Negro do this with their grandmothers' patience because no diner forgives a piece of shell in an empanada. Refrigerate the picked crab while you build the rest.

   If you cannot find fresh blue crab from the Pacific or the Sea of Cortez, pasteurized lump crab from a refrigerated tin is the next step down. Do not buy imitation crab. That is not jaiba, that is a costume.
2. 2

   Build the sofrito

   Melt 3 tablespoons of lard in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the diced white onion with a pinch of salt and cook until translucent and just starting to soften at the edges, about four minutes. Add the garlic and the chile guero. Cook for one minute more, until the kitchen smells sharp and grassy. La manteca es el sabor. The lard carries the flavor of the chile and the onion in a way that vegetable oil never will.

3. 3

   Cook down the tomato

   Add the drained tomato, the bay leaf, and the oregano. Cook over medium heat for six to eight minutes, stirring often, until the tomato breaks down and the mixture looks dry rather than soupy. A wet filling will burst the empanada in the fryer. You want a sofrito that holds its shape on a spoon.

4. 4

   Fold in the crab

   Pull the pan off the heat. Discard the bay leaf. Let the sofrito cool for two minutes so you do not cook the crab any further. Fold in the crab meat, the chopped cilantro, and the lime juice. Taste for salt and pepper. The filling should taste clean, oceanic, and a little bright from the lime. Spread it on a plate to cool completely while you make the masa.

   Never let the crab boil in the sofrito. You are warming it, not cooking it. Boiled crab turns rubbery and loses the sweet flavor that justifies the whole dish.
5. 5

   Mix the masa

   In a wide bowl, combine the masa harina, salt, and the soft lard. Pour in the warm water in a steady stream, mixing with your hand until the dough comes together. Knead for two minutes inside the bowl. The masa should feel like soft clay: smooth, not sticky, holding the print of your finger without cracking. If it cracks at the edges when you press it, add water a tablespoon at a time. If it sticks to your hand, add a little more masa harina. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for ten minutes.

6. 6

   Press the empanadas

   Divide the masa into 12 equal balls, about the size of a small lime. Line a tortilla press with two squares of plastic cut from a freezer bag. Place a ball of masa in the center and press to a six-inch round, no thicker than a tortilla. Peel the top plastic off. Place a heaping tablespoon of crab filling on one half, leaving a half-inch border. Lift the bottom plastic and fold the masa over the filling. Press the edge to seal, then run a finger or a small bowl rim along the curve to crimp it cleanly. Set on a tray under a damp cloth and continue with the rest.

   If the masa cracks when you fold it, the dough is too dry. Wet your hands and knead a little water back in. A cracked empanada will leak in the fryer and ruin the oil.
7. 7

   Heat the fat

   Pour enough lard or neutral oil into a deep heavy pot to come up two inches. Heat over medium-high to 350 degrees F. Test with a small piece of masa: it should sizzle steadily and rise to the surface within seconds without browning instantly. Too cool and the masa drinks the oil. Too hot and the outside burns before the masa cooks through.

8. 8

   Fry to mahogany

   Slide two or three empanadas into the fat at a time, never crowding the pot. Fry for three to four minutes per side, turning once, until the masa is deep golden brown with darker freckles where the surface caught the heat. The crust should be firm enough to tap with a finger. Lift onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Salt them lightly the moment they come out of the oil while the surface is still glistening. Serve hot. Asi se hace y punto.

9. 9

   Serve at the counter

   Pile the empanadas on a platter with lime wedges, a bowl of salsa de chile de arbol or salsa macha, and a heap of shredded cabbage. At the Mercado Negro the diner squeezes the lime over the empanada, drags it through the salsa, and eats it standing up before it cools. Do the same. An empanada de jaiba that has gone soft is an empanada de jaiba that lost its window.

Chef Tips

• •Sourcing is the entire game. If your crab is not fresh, do not make this dish today. Make it the day you find good crab. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the mercado is selling, not what looks good on a Pinterest board.
• •Drain the diced tomato in a sieve for ten minutes before it goes into the pan. Excess water in the filling will steam the inside of the empanada and split the seam in the fryer. A dry filling fries cleanly.
• •Lard for frying is not optional if you want the flavor of the Mercado Negro stalls. Neutral oil works and is what most home cooks will use, but the version fried in manteca tastes the way these are supposed to taste. Save the strained lard from carnitas and use it here.
• •Chile guero is sometimes labeled chile caribe or chile largo at Mexican mercados in the United States. It is pale yellow, about the length of a finger, with a fruity heat. Do not substitute bell pepper. There is no point.
• •These do not reheat well. The masa goes from crisp to leathery within an hour. Fry only what you will eat at one sitting. The filling can be made a day ahead, the masa fresh on serving day.

Advance Preparation

• •The crab filling can be made one day ahead and refrigerated, covered. Bring to cool room temperature before filling the empanadas so the masa does not soften from the cold.
• •Empanadas can be assembled (filled and crimped) up to two hours ahead and held on a tray under a damp cloth in the refrigerator. Fry just before serving.
• •These do not freeze well. The crab loses its sweetness and the fried masa goes leathery. Make them the day you eat them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)