Description
If there’s one thing that Puerto Ricans do best, it’s fritters! Learn how to make these alcapurrias at home. The dough (masa) is filled with flavorful picadillo meat filling, and the assembly plus frying process are easy!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Picadillo (filling):
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/3 cup sofrito
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup pimento stuffed olives, sliced
- 2 tsp sazon seasoning
- 2 tsp adobo seasoning
For the Masa (dough):
- 2 lbs (about 8) unripe green bananas, peeled and chopped into large pieces
- 2 lbs yucca, taro or yautia root, peeled and chopped into large pieces
- 2 tbsp achiote oil or olive oil
- 1 tsp sazon seasoning (salt free)
- 2 tsp salt
For Assembly:
- Parchment paper
- 1/4 cup achiote oil
- 2 cups cooking oil
Instructions
- Make the picadillo. Start with the ground beef and sforito in a pan over medium heat. Continue to cook until beef has browned, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the tomato sauce, olives, and seasonings. Stir and cook another 10 minutes, until the beef is fully cooked.
- Make the masa. In your food processor, combine the yucca or taro and bananas and pulse until a smooth and consistent masa is formed. Do this in batches if necessary. Add the achiote oil, sazon, and salt and pulse a few more times to combine.
- Prep the masa. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper. Brush the paper with achiote oil, add a large scoop of the masa and spread out flat with a spatula.
- Fill the alcapurrias. Top the masa with a spoonfuls of the picadillo, making sure to add a small enough amount that you have a few inches of dough around all edges of the filling.
- Close the fritters. Using the parchment paper, carefully fold the masa over the filling, folding the edges until fully sealed and no picadillo is visible. Continue this process until you’ve used all of your masa and/or filling.
- Fry. Heat vegetable oil to 350°F in a heavy bottomed pan. Fry the alcapurrias until golden brown and crisp all around, flipping to brown on both sides. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and enjoy!
Notes
Freezer tip: Instead of making your alcapurrias in parchment paper, layer the masa in the base of a rectangular silicone mold, add the meat filling to the center, then top with more masa. Freeze and your ready to fry whenever!