Filipino Snacks

[Domestic Goddess]

I made Chicken Empanadas for weekend snacks today. Here are my babies.

[docsconz]

They look lovely, Doddy. What is in them besides chicken? This is yet another similarity in the cuisines of the Philippines and Latin America.

[Domestic Goddess]

Hi Doc! Filipino empanadas usually have meat (chicken, pork or beef), chopped onions, diced potatoes and carrots - all simmered thick in cream of asparagus soup. Usually empanadas have raisins in them but I omit them because I like them savoury with no sweetness. Oh, they are fried too but I bake them (less hassle and more healthy).

[docsconz]

All of that is somewhat intuitive except for the cream of asparagus soup. although that sounds like a wonderful addition. Is that traditional or a creative variation? I may be wrong, but I don't believe Latin American empañadas typically have that soup base.

[Domestic Goddess]

The addition of cream of asparagus soup is a creative variation. The latin american influence would suggest that the soup base be milk, thickened with corn starch or flour.

[prasantrin]

For me, Filipino empanadas are usually ground beef or pork based, with raisins, cubed potatoes, and sometimes carrots. The difference between South American and Filipino empanadas is mostly in the sweetness--Filipino empanadas are slightly sweet--both the filling and the crust. I still have some empanadas in my freezer from last year...oops. Must throw them away, but perhaps I'll take a picture of them before I do!

[ecr]

Crabmeat empanada are a specialty of Pampanga (don't know if it's just one town or all of Pampanga). The wrapper is very light and thin, made with rice flour, and the filling includes achiote. I know this because of the orange oil that ran down my arm as I ate one.