Puerto Rican Alcapurria Recipe
Alcapurria is a popular Puerto Rican snack made with a savory filling, typically ground beef in tomato sauce, and then fried to perfection. It is one of the most delicious and iconic appetizers in Puerto Rican cuisine. The outer shell of the alcapurria is usually made from a mixture of green bananas and taro root. While beef is the traditional filling, other variations use different proteins, such as crab, chicken, or other alternatives.
Ingredients
- Ground beef – 1 ½ lb or 680g
- Canola oil – 5 tbsp
- Sofrito – 2 tbsp
- Tomato sauce – ¼ cup or 55g
- Yellow onion, chopped – ½
- Green olives – ¼ cup or 180g
- Adobo seasoning – 1 ½ tsp, 1 ¼ tbsp for the fritters
- Garlic powder – ½ tsp
- Ground black pepper – ¼ tsp
- Sazon Culantro and Achiote seasoning – 1 packet or 35g
- Green bananas – 3
- Taro root (yucca root) – 1 ½ lb
- Green plantain – 1
- Salt – ¾ tbsp
- Vegetable oil or any preferred oil – 6 cups
- Non-stick cooking spray and wax paper
- Hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
For the meat/filling:
- Place a skillet over medium-high heat and put in your oil—Cook the onions and sofrito for 1 minute.
- Add in the ground beef along with the adobo seasoning, garlic powder, pepper, and achiote seasoning.
- Mix together and cook for 6 minutes or when the meat is brown. Then add the tomato sauce.
- Once done, set it aside to cool.
For the fritters:
- Using a knife, peel the skin off the taro root, plantain, and bananas.
- Chop them into 1-inch pieces to process quickly.
- Put the chopped taro root, plantain, and bananas in the food processor and pulse until completely smooth. Push down the larger chunks to the bottom as you go.
- If you don’t have a food processor, grate them using the small holes on the box grater.
- Once done, transfer them into a large bowl, add garlic powder, salt, and Sazon Culantro and Achiote seasoning.
- Refrigerate the mixture for an hour for easier assembly. However, this step is optional.
- Start assembling the fritters by greasing the wax paper with non-stick cooking spray.
- Put a heaping ¼ cup dough on the centre of the paper, then spread thinly.
- Add 3 tbsp of meat to the centre of the dough and wrap both ends of the paper over each other to make a cylinder-shaped fritter, covering the meat mixture.
- Push down on the dough to seal the meat. Make sure to cover both ends and fill all holes.
- Heat oil over a large, high-walled skillet or deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
- Slide the alcapurria one at a time into the hot oil. Fry each side for 2 to 3 minutes or 5 to 6 minutes when using a deep fryer.
- When the alcapurria turns golden brown, take them out and place them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the grease.
- Serve immediately while it’s hot with hot sauce if desired.
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