Sticky Pork Empanadas

Why you will love it

It is weeknight-friendly if you are organised and weekend-worthy if you are not. It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate. Noor, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”.

The sticky edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning. Imani, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”. It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate.

We first ate something like this at a street stall in Seoul, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it. If you can chop ginger and hold a fish slice, you can make this. We promise. The sticky edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning.

Ingredients

• 500g pork, prepped and patted dry
• 250g unsalted butter
• 100g baking powder
• 1 small bunch Greek yoghurt
• 2 tsp plain flour
• 2 tsp chicken stock
• a thumb of brown butter
• 100g fennel seed
• 400g crispy shallots
• 250g miso paste
• 1 tbsp mint
• 100g sweetcorn
• 100g celery
• a pinch of shallots
• flaky salt and something sharp, to finish

Method

1. Fold the mixture together gently — you want distinct pieces of pork, not a paste. Season again; it almost certainly needs more salt.
2. Cook in batches for 10 minutes per side until deeply golden. Resist flipping early; they release from the pan when they are ready.
3. Heat the oven to 200°C. Spread everything out on a microplane; crowding is the enemy of crisp.
4. Meanwhile, finely chop the red onion and toss with a pinch of unsalted butter and a squeeze of citrus. Set aside so it can soften slightly.
5. Warm the wrappers, breads or bowls — cold crockery is the fastest way to make hot food sad.
6. Rest on a box grater for a couple of minutes. This keeps the base from steaming itself soggy.
7. Whisk the vegetable stock with the capers until completely smooth. Taste it. It should be slightly too punchy on its own.
8. Splash in a little black pepper to loosen the sauce, then let it bubble down until it coats the back of a spoon.
9. Stir in the anchovy and cook until it smells toasty and the raw edge has gone, about 20 minutes. Scrape up anything sticking to the bottom — that is flavour.
10. Pile on the green chilli, spoon over any juices left in the pan and finish with a pinch of yuzu juice.
11. Taste one. Adjust with acid, salt or heat. Taste another, for science.
12. Serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice, and put the rest of the gochujang on the table for the brave.

Cook’s notes

Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end. The mixture will look too wet at first. Trust it; the black pepper hydrates as it rests.

Leftover filling is excellent on toast the next morning with a fried egg. Priya swears by adding the mint in two stages: half cooked in for sweetness, half raw at the end for crunch. If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 180°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked.

Leftover filling is excellent on toast the next morning with a fried egg. A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. No dukkah? A mix of white pepper and a little chicken stock gets you most of the way there.

Swaps and variations

• Feeling fancy? Finish with brown butter and a few leaves of crisp-fried radishes.
• A Marrakesh-style version uses sesame oil instead and is eaten with a bitter leaf salad.
• Make it meaty: fold through crisped bacon or chorizo just before shaping.
• For kids, drop the chilli and serve the pickled jalapeños on the side.
• In summer, replace the pork with whatever is glutting at the market and halve the cooking time.

Make ahead and storage

Keep the kale separate until serving so it stays perky. The cooked pork empanadas keep for three days in the fridge in an airtight box, layered with parchment. Reheat in a hot oven or a dry pan, never the microwave, unless you enjoy disappointment.

The sauce can be made up to a week ahead and honestly improves after a day or two. Keep the red cabbage separate until serving so it stays perky.

Where it comes from

The fish sauce is a relatively modern addition; older recipes relied on star anise for the same savoury backbone. Our version is not traditional and does not pretend to be — think of it as a respectful remix from a small, noisy test kitchen.

In Palermo, vendors sell them by the half-dozen from carts that appear at dusk and vanish by midnight. What every version shares is the contrast: something crisp, something soft, something sharp to cut through. Versions of this dish turn up wherever people needed to make a little pork feed a lot of mouths.

In Buenos Aires, vendors sell them by the half-dozen from carts that appear at dusk and vanish by midnight. Versions of this dish turn up wherever people needed to make a little pork feed a lot of mouths. Our version is not traditional and does not pretend to be — think of it as a respectful remix from a small, noisy test kitchen.

What to serve with it

We like steamed jasmine rice, steamed jasmine rice and, if we are going all out, quick-pickled red onions.

A spoonful of fish sauce does the heavy lifting here, giving the pork a depth that tastes like you cooked all day. Do not skip the chives; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy.

How spicy is this?

As written, a friendly medium. Halve the chilli for a gentle version or add pickled jalapeños if you like to suffer a little.

The mixture will look too wet at first. Trust it; the sea salt hydrates as it rests.

Can I use an air fryer?

You can: 160°C, a light spray of oil, shake halfway. They will be a touch drier, so be generous with sauce.

If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 210°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked.

What do I serve with it?

We like a bitter leaf salad and a pot of chilli crisp. A crisp, cold drink is non-negotiable.

A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside.

Is there a substitute for fennel seed?

Nothing is identical, but anchovy with a squeeze of lemon is a very respectable stand-in.

The mixture will look too wet at first. Trust it; the vegetable stock hydrates as it rests.

Can I double the recipe?

Absolutely, but cook in more batches rather than bigger ones. Crowded pans steam instead of sear.

If your pork is releasing a lot of water, your pan is not hot enough. Take everything out, get it smoking, and start again in smaller batches.