Tonight, I think I'll make some
pastelitos.
Start with flour, a little bit of salt, a little bit of shortening, a little bit of baking soda, and enough water to make a soft, flour-tortilla dough. Mix it all together, then roll into separate one-and-a-half-inch balls.
Sauté ground beef, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and finely diced carrots and potatoes until done If you like, add in some cooked rice, or cook the rice with the other stuff and enough beef stock until the rice is done. You can add whatever you want, really, but those are the basics.
Form each
pastelito by pressing out one of the balls of dough into about a three-inch round. This may be done with a tortilla press or a rolling pin, but the locals just do it by hand, with the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. Place a tablespoon of the meat mixture just off centre on the dough, fold the dough to form a semicircle, then crimp the edges to seal. Fry in oil, turning once, until golden.
Here's a sufficiently representative photo from the web:
Tomorrow, I'm going to pick up a few things to try a recipe I just saw on a Filipino forum: Coconut milk, a little water, brown sugar, and sliced camote (similar to sweet potatoes - in the U.S., just use sweet potatoes) and brought to a slow boil until camote is done.