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Empanadas Paisas

Empanadas Paisas are stuffed pastries filled with seasoned pork and beef, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and corn, then fried.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and beef match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. The science ↓

Empanadas Paisas

Timeabout 40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Marinate the pork and beef with onions, scallions, salt, pepper, and ground cumin seed overnight.

  2. Brown the marinated meat in vegetable oil.

  3. Return the meat to the pan and add water. Cook until the meat is tender, about 40 minutes.

  4. Remove the meat and grind it.

Make the filling

  1. Sauté onions and scallions in 4 tablespoons of oil.

  2. Add chopped tomatoes and fry for an additional 3 or 4 minutes.

  3. Mix in the ground meat and meat stock and cook for about 10 minutes.

  4. Peel and mash the cooled, boiled potatoes and add them to the meat and vegetable mixture.

  5. Mix salt, pepper, and ground cumin seed into the meat and potato mixture.

Make the dough

  1. Boil the dry yellow corn in enough water to cover it for about half an hour.

  2. Grind the cooked corn.

  3. Knead the dough until it is thoroughly mixed and form a firm ball.

Shape and fry

  1. Divide the dough into small pieces and shape each into a small ball.

  2. Flatten each ball into a thin disc.

  3. Place about one teaspoon of the meat mixture in the center of each disc.

  4. Fold the disc over, pinch the edges together to close, and form a neat edge.

  5. Fry the empanadas in deep, hot vegetable oil for about 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown.

  6. Remove and drain on paper towels in a colander.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1433Calories
76 gProtein
46 gFat
179 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Pork100g cooked242
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Seednot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pork + beeftop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,690 recipes

    Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).

  2. Cumin + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + corntop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork and beef
Provides the main savoury filling and rich flavour once browned and simmered until tender.
Dry yellow corn
Ground after boiling, it forms the starchy dough that wraps the filling.
Potatoes
Mashed into the filling, they add body and moisture that help bind the meat mixture.
Tomatoes
Fried with the onions and scallions, they add acidity and moisture to the filling.

The step that matters

Pinch the edges closed firmly. Each empanada must be sealed well, because a weak seam can let the filling leak out into the hot oil during frying.

Swap the cumin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, beef, onion, pepper, tomato, potato, corn):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Cuminthe original
  4. Celeryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, beef, onion, pepper, tomato, potato, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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