Tucuman sits next to Salta in the Andean northwest. Its empanadas are smaller than Salta's but even juicier. The beef is hand-diced and cooked with a splash of milk, which tenderises the meat and enriches the cooking liquid. Tucuman claims to be the birthplace of the Argentine empanada and hosts the National Empanada Festival in the town of Famailla, where thousands come to eat and judge. The seal is a braided rope pattern, distinguishing Tucuman from Salta's spiral.
Small, intensely juicy empanadas with knife-cut beef cooked in milk, the broth flooding the mouth on first bite, the pastry thin and crisp. The milk gives the meat a particular tenderness.
Tucuman empanadas are smaller and wetter than Salta's. The beef is hand-diced and cooked with a splash of milk, which tenderises the meat and enriches the cooking liquid. The filling includes onion, scallion, cumin, paprika and sometimes a little sugar. The dough is wheat flour with fat, rolled thin. The seal is a braided rope pattern. Baked hot until golden. The extreme juiciness means the dough must be sealed perfectly or the milk-enriched broth leaks and the empanada is ruined.
Variations
Some use flank steak instead of regular beef. A touch of sugar is characteristically Tucuman.
On the Palate
Where Empanadas Tucumanas sits in the Argentinian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 50 min
- 18 min
Dice 400g beef into small cubes; sear with 1 chopped onion, then add 100ml milk, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, a pinch of sugar, salt and 150ml water.
- 28 min
Simmer 20 minutes until the beef is tender and the liquid is rich and milky; cool completely.
Watch outSimmer the filling until the beef is tender and the milky broth is rich, then cool it completely — warm, loose filling makes the dough soggy and hard to seal.
- 35 min
Stir in 2 chopped boiled eggs and scallion; the filling should be very wet.
- 46 min
Make dough from 500g flour, 80g lard, 1 tsp salt and 200ml water; rest 30 minutes, roll thin, cut 10cm rounds.
- 57 min
Mound filling, fold, seal with a braided rope crimp; brush with egg and bake at 220 degrees C for 15 minutes until golden.
Watch outSeal the braided crimp airtight — Tucumán empanadas run very juicy, and any weak seam bursts and leaks the milk-rich broth in the oven.
- 64 min
Rest 5 minutes; eat carefully, very juicy.
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