Sorullitos de Maíz- Cornmeal Fritters

After a whole week of fasting, these sorullitos de maíz were the first actual food I ate after I finished my spiritual retreat.  Not the best choice, but you have to “go with the flow”. And the quality of these sorullos, it was well, well worth it.

I visited my sister on New Year’s Day…  She had welcomed the New Year with her husband and his family at their house with a typical Puerto Rican fare – arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), pasteles (a plantain or yucca- based boiled “thing” similar to a tamal), pernil, potato salad, etc. – and the only vegetarian-suitable thing on the menu were these sorullos…  pero qué sorullos!!

My brother-in-law made the recipe according to Carmen Valdejuli’s recipe, the author of Cocina Criolla and the authority on Puerto Rican Cooking.  (The book also comes in an English version.)  He did double the batch because he was unsure of how many sorullos the recipe would yield.  Apparently he was too busy to read right underneath the recipe’s title it yielded 50 sorullos… so he made enough to make 100.  My sister said she was not making 100 sorullos, so she made these “mega sorullos” – not that thick, but extra long.  Regular sorullos are usually about the size of a small index finger.  These ones are like 6 inches long.  But you get the drift.

Most cornmeal bags – at least the ones sold in Puerto Rico – include a sorullito recipe on the packaging.  They’re easy to follow and very reliable.  This recipe, to me it’s the ultimate… the Gouda cheese is melted into the batter giving them a really nice and salty taste.  Some people add a little piece of cheese inside the sorullito so that it melts inside when you fry them.

SORULLITOS DE MAIZ

Recipe from Carmen Valdejuli, Cocina Criolla – Makes about 50 sorullitos

2 cups of water

1 ¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cup cornmeal

1 cup Edam cheese, grated – my brother-in-law used Gouda cheese…

 

1.  Bring the water with salt to a boil. Take away from the heat and add the cornmeal. Quickly, mix the water and cornmeal together and cook under moderate heat. Continue mixing about 3 to 5 minutes until the mixture separates from the bottom and sides of the pot.

2.  Take away from the heat and add the grated cheese – you’ll see the mixture will loosen a bit when you add the cheese.

3.  Immediately, take spoonfuls of the mixture and form balls in the palm of your hands. Press them to form like small cigars of about 3 inches long. As you can see my sister/brother-ion-law version are much longer than the original recipe calls for.

4.  Fry them in plenty of vegetable oil at 375 F. Take them out when they’re golden and place them onto paper towels to drain the excess oil.

And the only way to enjoy sorullitos is with a great MayoKetchup Dip.  My brother-in-law showed me a new version of MayoKetchup.  A nice little twist with even more flavor… check it out.

This is not diet food… but it is certainly, food of the Puerto Rican gods…  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Tags: cheese, cornmeal