Chilean sopaipillas (pronounced so-pie-pee-yas) are savory pancakes made from fried dough. They are an immensely popular Chilean snack, and though everyone loves to eat homemade versions, sopaipillas are sold in mini-markets and on street corners everywhere. Sopaipillas are made with winter squash, and served crispy and piping hot during Chile's cold winter months. They are most often made in large batches, of which most are eaten plain, and the rest are set to soak overnight in a syrup, to be heated and eaten the next day. These are called "sopaipillas pasadas."
Instructions
1. Boil the squash until it is very soft, then mash it and leave it to cool to room temperature. Do not drain it. If you are using frozen squash, thaw it in about 1/2 cup of water. Add water if the squash looks too thick.
2. Mix the flour and salt together. Then add the vegetable shortening, and work it evenly into the flour.
3. Remove the squash from the water with a slotted spoon, and work it into the mixture with your hands. Then, little by little, add the leftover water from the squash and knead it into the mixture until it forms a dough. If you need more water, use cool water from the tap.
4. Separate the dough into sections. One by one, take each section and roll it out to about 1/2 an inch thick. Use the top edge of your cup or bowl to cut the dough into neat circles. Pierce each circle through in its center with a fork. This keeps the dough from swelling and breaking in the fryer.
5. Heat the vegetable oil in a fryer or a sturdy pot. If you're using a pot, throw a small piece of dough into the oil while it's still cold. When the dough bubbles and floats to the top, the oil is hot enough for frying.
6. Fry the sopaipillas in the oil in batches of three if they are larger, and four if they are smaller. When they float to the top, wait about a minute, then flip them over to cook on the other side for about a minute longer. Remove them and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel.
7. Make sopaipillas pasadas by dissolving a block of chancaca or panela (which is a hard block of unrefined dark brown sugar) into 2 quarts of gently boiling water. Add the juice and the rind of the orange (some people throw in the whole orange) the vanilla and the cornstarch slurry.
8. Stack the sopaipillas in the syrup. Turn off the heat, and let them sit. They can be eaten just a few minutes later, but they taste best if they are left to soak overnight.
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