Cooking Class: Ilocos Empanada, From Scratch - Filipino Classics

You have seen them on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. The huge bright orange empanada with the egg cracked inside, the shell that shatters when you bite it. It is all over your feed. Home cooks from California to New Jersey sell out in hours. You want to make it yourself.

The problem is nobody shows you how. The dough looks like a mystery. The sausage comes from a package that tastes like nothing. The egg runs, the shell breaks, and you end up with something soggy and sad. Even the vendors in Manial admit that part is hard.

I understand. On my recent trip to the Philippines I went on a mission. I sought out the best empanadas, stall after stall, and I tried every variation I could find. I burned my fingers more than once, because you have to eat these hot. Oh my goodness, they are so good. I came home knowing exactly what makes them work. Now I am ready to teach you the part the videos leave out.

HERE IS THE PLAN

1. Make the sausage. You season fresh pork with garlic, cane vinegar, and black pepper the Ilocano way. No packages.
2. Make the shell. You knead rice flour with annatto oil until it turns that famous orange, then press it thin on a banana leaf.
3. Fill, fold, and fry. Green papaya, bean sprouts, your own sausage, and a whole egg in the center. I show you the trick to a set egg and a shell that stays crisp.
4. Eat. We sit together and dip them in sukang Iloko, the garlic and chili vinegar that makes the whole thing sing.

You make three. Two to eat hot at the table. One goes home with you, ready to fry, so you can prove to someone you did this.

WHAT YOU GET

• All ingredients and equipment
• Printed recipes, including the sausage and the vinegar, so you can make it again
• A full meal of everything you made
• Hands-on cooking at your own station, with me beside you the whole way
  
  
  A LITTLE BONUS

An empanada should not eat alone. I bring out a pot of sinigang, the sour tamarind soup every Filipino home keeps on the stove. Hot, tangy, full of vegetables. One spoon cuts the richness of the fry and gets you ready for the next bite. You sit down to a real meal, not just a snack.

Add to WHAT YOU GET:

• A bowl of sinigang and steamed rice served with your empanadas
  

No experience needed. If you can fold a napkin, you can fold an empanada.

Skip this, and the empanada stays a video on your phone. Come, and you walk out knowing how to make the dish everyone at your table will ask about.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Class runs about 3 hours
• Ages 16 and up
• Contains egg, pork, and wheat; message us before booking with allergy questions
• Wear closed-toe shoes and come hungry

Reserve your seat. I will save you a spot at the table.

Maraming salamat,
Maricel

If you are redeeming a gift certificate, please call or text us at 732-497-2698 to reserve your place. You can also email us at info@maricelskitchen.com