These fritters are very crispy on the outside and sweet, rich, and creamy on the inside. The cream cheese makes a wonderful contrast with the guava paste, the purpose of the cream cheese is to balance the strong sweetness of the guava paste and give it a wonderful creamy texture. If you only used the guava paste to make it it would be repulsive after gorging many of these tasty fritters. (I can eat 1 dozen in 1 sitting for dessert)
I gaurantee you that these are better than making "Empanadas de Guayaba Con Queso" (Guava and Cheese Empanadas) I deleted the post I made back then about the Guava Empanadas because it was experimental and these are way better ha ha. You just can't beat the texture.
Ingredients:
-1 pack of wonton wrappers
-1 can of Guava Paste cut into little square pieces (best guava paste is from bought in flat tin cans)
-Cream Cheese cut into little square pieces to (as much as you need?)
-1 egg (beaten with 1 teaspoon water to seal wrappers)
-oil to deep-fry or pan-fry (I use canola it has a very neutral clean taste and the food doesn't feel greasy when I fry with it, also has a high smoking point, I like peanut oil to but it's expensive)
Directions:(1)Have everything prepared, open the wonton wrapper pack last because wonton wrappers dry out really quickly when exposed to air they will stiffen in some time (maybe like 30- 60 minutes?)
(2)Fill each wonton with small piece of guava paste and cream cheese on top, lightly with a small brush or you finger brush the sides with the beaten egg and water then seal, repeat until you have as many wontons as you want. Make sure to take all the air out of them you don't want air pockets in them.
(3)Heat oil on medium high heat until it's hot enough (you can test it with a wooden spoon when it makes small sizzles around the wood it is ready) now fry the wontons in small batches on both sides until golden browned (they are done very quickly so be watchful and careful not to burn them)
(4)Set them on a plate with a paper towel.
Notes:(1)I didn't use all the cream cheese and guava I opened, the package of wonton wrappers has enough for 60 wontons (or more I believe not sure), I saved the guava paste and cream cheese for other stuff I can make with them I simply enjoy it alone, some thick slices of guava paste and cream cheese cold from the fridge are really tastey to!
(2)The wonton wrappers can be wrapped air tight with plastic wrap and it's packaging and frozen until you want to use it again, when ready to use again simply thaw them by leaving them out a couple hours.
(3)Also sometimes my grandmother when she wanted to make them bigger she would get 2 wonton skins put a generous layer of guava, then another of cream cheese over 1 of the skins, and place another on top to sandwich it and seal it with egg wash, they would be like square crispy flat fritters filled with goodness.
(4)I read somewhere online something a long the line of, "Cuban Cuisine doesn't deep-fry much" I told myself "Are you kidding me, we have an arsenal of fried finger foods, both savory and sweet!" so that's why I made a small label on my blog for "cuban fried foods"
Que deliciosas frituras Nathan. Aquí las hacemos con membrillo y queso, supongo que será lo mismo que la guava.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo
Sweet empanadillas. Delicious...and clever. Using a wonton skin makes it easy.
ReplyDeleteHola Nathan! I'm reading PIlar's comment and see that she has seen this frituras before... see how different and original Spain can be? My first time seeing this... However, thinking it twice... during the cooking classe I'm attending, the cook made a dessert from La Rioja and it was somenting like empanadillas filled with almonds paste... too much for me ;D
ReplyDeleteThe use of the wonton reduces the work a lot... smart!
Pilar,
ReplyDeleteEl Membrillo es parecido a la Pera y Manzana pero es un poco agria. La Guayaba es differente, pero si es casi igual en el sentido que los dos se pueden acer en forma de pasta dulce. Yo puedo aqui tonde vivo encontrar pasta de Membrillo y tambien ay otro que le gustan a los Mexicanos que le llaman "Guayabate" que es como pasta de Guayaba pero tiende un poco de semilla y cascara revuelto.
Foodalogue,
I love the wonton skins, you achieve a crisp and crunch that you just can't get with Empanada discs for this, plus they are so tiny and appealing.
Nuria,
Yup Cuisine in Spain varies so much from region to region and an have many commonalities with Cuban Cuisine since Cuban Cuisine at it's core is Spaniards adopting the ingredients they could get in Cuba influenced by a little bit with hints of West African, Taino, Chinese, American, mainly and sometimes other stuff ha ha.
Nathan: In Cienfuegos, Cuba there a lot recipes with a French touch because the city was founded primarily by French immigrants (my grandmother's parents were part of that wave). My cousins in Cienfuegos still cook various dishes that are French-influenced but are not found in other parts of the island. Unfortunately I don't have any of the recipes.
ReplyDeleteMamey,
ReplyDeleteThat's cool, Cuban cooking is very regional I guess.The only Cuban food I've tried is mostly from Western Cubans from Havana and that's pretty much it, never had anything else. Would be wonderful to try it though I wish I could try some of the "Oriente" provinces food I've heard of "Casabe" (the Yucca flat bread) and also of Cuban cooking that uses "Allspice" and "Allspice leaves" pretty interesting.
These look delicious! I didn't think of using the wonton wrappers before and am so glad I read your post. Thanks for the recipe, this is going to be my favorite!
ReplyDelete