National Dishes of the World

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Salteña
Photo: EEJCC, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

snack

Salteña

A baked, slightly sweet pastry filled with a juicy, spicy beef or chicken stew – a mid-morning snack eaten with care.

Eaten in: Bolivia

Prep
1 h 30 min
Cooking
1 h
Resting
12 h
Total
14 h 30 min
Servings
8

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About the dish

The salteña is Bolivia's version of the empanada, set apart by the hot, liquid stew inside. The filling, called jigote, is made from finely diced beef or chicken, potatoes, peas, onion and spicy ají paste, with gelatine and a little sugar, and is then chilled until set. This lets it be sealed in a sweetish golden pastry with a distinctive braided ridge; in the oven the jelly melts into a rich sauce. Salteñas are eaten before noon, held upright and bitten at the top corner first so none of the juice is lost – a skill Bolivians take pride in. Inside you may also find egg, an olive and a raisin.

Main ingredients

  • wheat flour
  • beef or chicken
  • potatoes
  • peas
  • ají chilli paste
  • gelatine
  • onion

Bolivia: In La Paz, Cochabamba and Sucre they are bought in the morning at salteñerías; by afternoon they are usually sold out.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Salteña

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/saltena

Ingredients

8 servings

8 servings

Method

  1. The day before, make the filling: soften the chopped onions and spring onions with the ají paste, add the meat, spices and sugar, pour in some stock and simmer for about 30 minutes.

  2. Dissolve the gelatine in a little hot stock and stir into the stew with the potatoes and peas. Season with salt, cool and refrigerate overnight until set.

  3. Melt the butter with the annatto oil, mix with the flour, sugar and salt, add the egg and warm water and knead a smooth, elastic dough. Rest for 30 minutes.

  4. Divide the dough into 16 balls and roll each into a circle about 15 cm across.

  5. Put 2 tbsp of the set filling in the centre with a piece of egg, an olive and a raisin. Fold the circle in half and seal the edge along the top, crimping it into a braid.

  6. Stand the salteñas upright on a lined tray, brush with yolk and bake for about 20 minutes at 230°C until golden. Serve hot.

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