How to make authentic Colombian beef empanadas

What separates a “just okay” empanada from a truly great empanada? For Ismael Castro, executive chef and co-owner of the Toronto-based food truck and catering service El Bosco, it’s all about the dough. “Every country in Latin America has their [own] empanadas,” he tells us. “The Argentineans have flour ones… and those are baked. The Mexicans, we have our corn dough… same as Venezuela's and Colombia’s.” 

Having grown up in Mexico, Castro was no stranger to Mexican-style empanadas — which he says are typically made with white corn — but he first tasted the stuffed pastry that’s now a staple on El Bosco’s menu while visiting his business partner Marcela Geer’s family in Colombia. It was love at first bite. “It’s literally the way they make them… when you make your own dough with your own corn that you grind, that’s the key [to] the dish.” According to Castro the fresh corn dough retains less oil in the cooking process, meaning “you don’t have to let them sit and then [dab them] with paper towel… you literally just deep fry them for 6-7 minutes and they’re ready to go. If you can take the heat on the inside, they’re ready to go.” Sold.  

Marta Ramirez Guerra’s Colombian Beef Empanadas

By Ismael Castro

“It was actually my business partner’s brother’s wife… who taught me how to make [these empanadas],” Castro says. “It’s a lot of work, it takes a lot of effort, manually, physically, but it pays off.”

Ingredients

Corn Dough:

• 10 pieces corn on the cob
• Salt, to taste

Beef Filling:

• 1 lb of beef eye round steak
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large potato, washed and peeled
• ½ red pepper
• ½ green pepper
• ¼ cup green onions, finely chopped
• Salt, to taste

For frying:

• Sunflower, vegetable or canola oil, as needed

Colombian Ahogado:

• ¼ cup finely chopped red onions
• ¼ cup finely chopped white onions
• ¼ cup finely chopped green onions
• Cilantro, to taste, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, deveined and finely chopped
• Juice of 2 limes

Preparation

Corn Dough:

Remove corn kernels from the cob and boil for about 20 minutes. Drain the water and grind kernels to start making dough. Add salt to taste and a bit of water to obtain the right texture — it shouldn’t stick to your fingers. Let the dough rest. Chef’s tip: Use an electric grinder to make the dough, if possible, otherwise a food processor will work.

Beef Filling:

Cut the round steak into medium-sized pieces and bring to a boil in salted water with garlic. Simmer over medium heat for about 20 to 25 minutes. 

Chop the potato into very small pieces and bring to a boil. Do not fully cook them — the empanada will still need to be fried, which will further cook the filling. Salt to taste.

Grind the meat in a grinder or food processor, along with red and green peppers. Add the green onions.

Combine the meat mixture with the potatoes. The filling is now complete.

Assembly:

Separate the dough into golf ball-sized chunks. Roll them between your hands to make a smooth balls. 

Flatten the balls with a tortilla press (if you don’t have one, you can use the bottom of a bowl with a diameter of about 4 inches), to make “tortillas” about 4 inches wide. Use a barrier on either side of the dough ball to prevent it from sticking when flattening. Cutting a large plastic zip-top bag into two halves works best. 

Peel off one side of the plastic and add 1 tablespoon of the beef filling. Fold the flattened dough in half to seal the edges to form the empanada, then peel off the other half of the plastic. Repeat for the remainder of the empanadas.

Heat oil to 350F degrees, and deep fry the empanadas for 7 minutes. Chef’s tip: Frying in sunflower oil will produce the most authentic flavour. Canola or vegetable oil can also be substituted. 

Serve empanadas with the typical Colombian Ahogado (salsa).

Colombian Ahogado:

Combine all of the dry ingredients. Add lime juice and salt to taste. Buen Apetito! 

Yield: Makes 12 empanadas, about 6 servings