A traditional Caribbean Chicken Pastelle, a Christmas favourite in Trinidad and Tobago. Ground chicken filling with scallions, fresh thyme, tomato, olives, dried cranberries and raisins, wrapped in yellow cornmeal dough and steamed in banana leaves.
chicken stockfor braising the chicken filling, amount not specified~1 cupest.
scallion~3-4est.
fresh thyme~2-3 sprigsest.
parsley~¼ cupsest.
tomato~2est.
peppers in brinebrined peppers~½ cupest.
pimento pepperripe orange one, roughly chopped
1
pimento peppergreen one, roughly chopped1
dried cranberriesroughly chopped~½ cupest.
raisins~½ cupest.
olives with brine~1 cupest.
yellow corn flour~2 cupsest.
chicken stockhot, for mixing with corn flour~2 cupsest.
buttersalted butter~3 tbspest.
vegetable oilfor coating dough balls~2 tbspest.
banana leaffor wrapping the pastelles~8-10est.
Steps
▶ Tap a timecode to jump to roughly that moment in the video.
1
Place ground chicken in a pan with olive oil. Using a spoon, continuously break down the chicken until fully cooked and finely broken up, about 15 minutes. The meat should show caramelization and develop flavour.
2
Add salt, black pepper, chicken stock, chopped scallions, fresh thyme, parsley, tomato, and brined pepper liquid. Mix all ingredients together.
3
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about 3 minutes, then add chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and the chicken is tender.
4
In the final few minutes, add the roughly chopped pimento peppers (orange and green), dried cranberries, raisins, and olives with their brine. Gently combine everything so the flavours infuse without over-mixing. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Remove from heat.
5
Allow the filling to cool to room temperature. This can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until ready to use.
6
Heat chicken stock to a boil in a pot, add salted butter and let it melt. Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly.
7
Pour the hot broth directly into the corn flour, gradually adding while stirring continuously to form a soft dough. Adjust liquid as needed to reach desired consistency. Once cooled, pinch off balls slightly larger than ping pong ball sized, and roll them into balls.
8
Set the dough balls aside and lightly drizzle with vegetable oil. Use a pastelle press (or hands) to flatten each ball between parchment paper.
9
Place a generous portion of the chicken filling in the centre of the flattened corn flour. Using parchment paper as an aid, fold the edges toward the centre, tucking them in to create a tight, sealed packet.
10
Place each pastelle on a piece of banana leaf. Gently wrap by folding the banana leaf sides up and then over, creating a neat sealed package.
11
Set up a bamboo or metal steamer with boiling water underneath. Critically, the pastelles must never touch water—they must be steamed, not boiled. If you don't have a steamer, create a foil ring on the bottom of the pot to keep pastelles above the water level.
12
Place the wrapped pastelles in the steamer basket. Cover and steam for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on thickness.
13
Once steamed, carefully remove the pastelles from the steamer and place on a plate to cool for a few minutes. Unwrap the banana leaves and serve warm, optionally with pepper sauce.
PrimedTableBETA
