These wonderful fry-at-home Puerto Rican hot pockets come to us courtesy of AYBENDITO, a Puerto Rican cuisine popup from Cristina Baez of Ataula. We provided her with Japanese ingredients such as curry powder, as well as yuzu and orange marmalades, and she concocted these brilliant JapaRican fusions. These are just a one-off collab so make sure to snag them while you can!! I can't wait for AYBENDITO to start up their offerings again in 2021 because I'm already out of all my Sofrito Canelé (OHNO!) but til then, at least we'll have these empanadillas to keep us warm and tropical :)

We have two varieties for you:

Curry Pork - Japanese curry spice blend, ground pork, carrot, onion. The flavor balance on these is very Puerto Rican: Simple and savory, very much the flavors of comfort foods from both Japanese and Puerto Rican cuisines.

Queso-Yuzu Marmalade - Bitter, floral, and sweet yuzu marmalade (from Kuze Fuku) matches up wonderfully with herbaceous Puerto Rican sofrito and savory, mild, and melty cheese. These would be awesome for breakfast. *vegetarian

Instructions for frying at home: 

(Let thaw in the fridge overnight before cooking!!)
1. In a medium-sized saucepan heat 1 quart of canola or vegetable oil to 350 degrees.
2. Fry for ~5 minutes, until crust is golden-brown. 
3. Use tongs to remove from oil to a paper towel lined plate and let cool briefly before serving. 
4. Caution: the insides will be hot and juicy! If it doesn't dribble down your chin, you're not eating it right ;)

Erik and I got married and moved to Puerto Rico on a whim and a thirst for adventure. We lived there for three years and built amazing friendships and community and learned the important things in life: family, food, community, nature, hustle. We absolutely fell in love with the island, the people, the food, the culture, and the art there so when Cristina reached out to us to do this little collab, we said YES without a second of hesitation. We miss the food, comida criolla, so much and we hope you take this opportunity to try out this islandxisland food!