Makes about 24

For the pork stock:

  • 2 pounds pork bones
  • Half a small onion, peeled
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Fine sea or kosher salt
  • Black peppercorns

For the meat filling

  • 2 pounds pork, preferably Boston butt, cut into ½-cubes
  • ¼ cup Achiote Oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Add 1/3 cup Sofrito
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh culantro or ½ bunch fresh cilantro tied with twine

For the Root Vegetable Filling:

  • 8 pounds green bananas, peeled
  • ¾ pounds yautia, peeled
  • ¾ pound calabaza, peeled
  • 1 small green plantain, peeled
  • 1 small (about 7 ounces) russet potatoes, peeled
  • 1/3 cup Achiote Oil
  • 1 cup (or as needed) Pork Stock (see above)
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea or kosher salt
  • ¾ cup milk
  • ¾ cup broth from the pork stew
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea or kosher salt

You will also need:

  • 1 pound banana leaves, cut into twenty-four 7-inch squares
  • ½ cup Achiote Oil for assembling the pasteles
  • 24 pieces (12 x18) parchment paper
  • 24 whole small hot peppers, such as cayenne or bird peppers
  • 24 thirty-inch lengths kitchen twine

Make the pork stock: Preheat the oven to 400° F Toss the pork bones, onion, and bay leaf together in a roasting pan large enough to hold them comfortably. Roast, stirring once or twice, until well browned, about 45 minutes.
Transfer the bones to a 5 or 6-quart pot. Pour in enough water to cover the bones. Add a big pinch of salt and a dozen or so peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the liquid is at a lively simmer. Cook, skimming off any foam or fat that rises to the surface, 1 1/2 hours.
Make the meat filling: Put the pork in a 4-quart pot. Add the achiote oil and bay leaf and pour in enough cold water to cover the pork. Bring to a boil. Cook 45 minutes.
Stir in the sofrito, culantro or cilantro, and salt and continue simmering until the pork is tender, about 45 minutes.
When the pork stock and pork filling are ready, set them aside. Gather the twine, parchment, achiote oil, and banana leaves together before making the root vegetable filling.
Make the root vegetable filling: Grate the root vegetables by hand on the finest side of a box grater. Don’t be tempted to do this in a food processor. Stir in the achiote oil, pork stock, salt, milk, pork cooking liquid and broth. The mixture should be the color of a sweet potato and the texture of a sticky muffin batter.

Oil the center of a sheet of parchment paper and place a banana leaf over the oil. Oil the leaf lightly. Spoon about ¾ cup of the masa over the center of the leaf. Make a little well in the masa and spoon about ¼ cup of the pork stew and some juice into the well. Top with an olive and piece of red pepper from the alcaparrado. Also a whole cayenne. Spoon the masa from the edges over the meat and vegetables. Fold the top and bottom sides of the leaf over the filling. Fold the bottom of the paper over the leaf so the two long edges meet at the top. Make two folds along the long edge so the pastel is wrapped nice and tight. Make a 1-inch fold along one the short ends, then bring that end of the paper and banana leaf over the filling. Repeat with the other short side. You now have a pastel made up of the filling tightly wrapped in both banana leaf and paper. Set it aside folded side down on a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining filling, leaves and paper. Tie the pastels: Fold one length of string in half and set it on your work surface with the loose ends closest to you. Center a tamale folded side down over the string, about 4 inches from the folded end. Bring each half of the string outward slightly so it is sitting near the ends of the folds. Bring the loose ends of the string over the packet then under the loop in the string. Keeping the string centered under the folds, pull the loose ends up and out. If this all sounds too complicated, simply tie the folds tightly with shorter lengths of string.

The llunta of pasteles is now ready to be poached in boiling salted water for about an hour.

(see the tutorial)