Empanadas de Cazón Margariteñas

Ingredients

• 400 g masarepa (precooked white cornmeal)
• 550 ml warm water
• 1 1/2 tsp fine salt for the dough
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp annatto-infused oil
• 500 g cazon or firm white fish such as huss, pollock or haddock
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp fine salt for the filling
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp chopped coriander
• 1 litre sunflower oil, for frying

Before you cook

• Cut the fish into large pieces and rinse it under cold water.
• Chop the onion, pepper, garlic and tomatoes and keep them in separate piles.
• Cut two squares of thick plastic from a freezer bag for pressing the dough.
• Measure the warm water into a jug.

Steps

1. Bring a pan of salted water to a simmer and poach the fish for eight minutes until it flakes.
2. Lift the fish out, let it cool for ten minutes, then flake it with your fingers and pick out every bone.
3. Heat the three tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
4. Fry the onion, red pepper and garlic for eight minutes until completely soft.
5. Add the tomatoes, the cumin and the paprika, then cook for eight minutes until the mixture is thick and jammy with no free liquid.
6. Stir in the flaked fish, the teaspoon of salt and the black pepper, and cook for five minutes.
7. Take the pan off the heat, fold through the coriander and leave the filling to cool completely.
8. Pour the warm water into a wide bowl and dissolve the dough salt and the sugar in it.
9. Rain the masarepa in slowly with one hand, stirring constantly with the other, then add the annatto oil.
10. Knead the dough in the bowl for three minutes until it is smooth and holds a shape without cracking.
11. Rest the dough for five minutes, then wet your hands and knead it once more.
12. Divide the dough into eight balls, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth.
13. Set one ball between the two plastic squares and press it into a twelve centimetre disc about four millimetres thick.
14. Spoon two tablespoons of cooled filling onto one half, leaving a clear border.
15. Lift the plastic to fold the dough over the filling, then press the edges together and trim them with the rim of a glass.
16. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
17. Heat the sunflower oil in a deep pan to 180C.
18. Fry two empanadas at a time for three minutes on each side, until blistered and deep gold.
19. Drain them on a rack and serve hot with guasacaca or a squeeze of lime.