Carimiñolas, Eric's style

Frituras are those greasy little fried foods that a lot of Panamanians eat for breakfast. Corn tortillas, fried empanadas and chicharrones (pork rinds) are among the favorites, but the emblematic fritura in Panamanian culture is the caramiñola. Chef Emeril has published a similar recipe, but his version gets into Mexican and Cajun spices. Panama and its culinary culture are neither Mexican nor Cajun, but that said, we do many variations on the caramiñola theme as well. This version has more taste than the frozen, ready-to-deep-fry versions that you buy in the store.

Eric's caramiñolas

Ingredients

5 pounds yucca root, peeled and cubed
4 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon butter
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onions, minced
1/4 cup mild pickled cherry peppers, minced
1/4 cup pickling juice from the peppers
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
6 ounces ground beef
6 ounces ground pork
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
Vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Boil the yucca with a teaspoon of salt in a large pan, reducing heat after it comes to a rapid boil and simmering until the yucca is soft
Drain the yucca, put it in a bowl
With a potato masher, lightly mash it up and remove any stringy fibers
Mash yucca more thoroughly, this time adding the butter
Add 3 eggs and stir the whole mixture until it's a uniform textured soft batter
Add 1/2 cup of the flour and 2 teaspoons of the salt and mix well, until you get a stiff batter
Let this batter cool to room temperature
Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until the onions turn clear
Add the peppers, continue to saute until the garlic starts to brown
Add the ground beef and and pork, and cook until the meat is well done
Add the tomato paste, the juice from the pickled peppers and the remaining salt, and simmer until the liquid is reduced
Allow this mixture to cool
Roll the yucca batter into balls, about 1/4 cup each
Using a finger, press a hole into the middle of each
Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the filling into the center of each ball and pinch the yucca dough around it to completely enclose
Roll the yucca dough with the mixture inside into a cylindrical shape with tapered ends, something like a stretched out American football
Heat the vegetable oil to 330 to 340 degrees F for deep frying
In a bowl, beat the remaining 3 eggs with 3 Tablespoons of water
In another bowl, combine the remaining cup of flour with however much salt and/or pepper you may care to use
One at a time, dip the caramiñolas into the eggs, then roll in the flour
Deep fry a few at a time until golden brown, about 2 minutes
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain the grease
Allow to cool a bit and serve warm

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