One of the most popular street foods in Chile is the Chilean Sopaipillas. It’s a kind of fried pastry, that’s made with pumpkin puree. It’s served either sweet or savory and is traditionally made on rainy winter days. This is one of Andres’ childhood favorites, and so he makes them on special occasions.
Although I’m half Chilean, I’ve never had sopaipillas until I met Andres, even though I’ve visited Chile before. Believe it or not, he made them for me on our 2nd (!) date after finding this out. Since we like to explore and experiment with food, we’ve tried many different versions of the Chilean sopaipilla, and this is the one we like the most.
There’s nothing better than having one of these on a wintry day. Or any day, really. It’s sweet and savory, a delight in every bite. Trust us, you won’t be able to stop after having just one.
The first step to make them is to prepare the sweet potato and pumpkin, which you can even do a day in advance. Roast them in the oven on coarse salt until both are soft. Don’t forget to poke the pumpkin with a knife.
Once you have your cooled down roasted veggies, take a cup of each (without the skins) and mash them in a bowl with a fork. Add salt and mix well. Then, add the flour and mix with a fork until it’s lumpy. Switch to mixing by hand until it comes together.
Set up a pot with enough vegetable oil to deep fry the sopaipillas. While it heats up on the stove, work on forming the dough- on a well floured working surface, roll out the dough to about 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) thickness. Using a fork, poke holes in the dough throughout. When you’re done poking, use a glass or cookie cutter to cut out 9 cm (3.5 inch) diameter circles. Fry in batches for 3-4 minutes until golden, flipping them over 2-3 times in the process. Once they’re done, drain them on a plate lined with paper towels.
Serve either sweet with maple syrup, powdered sugar or regular sugar, savory with chimichurri or salt, or as is. Hope you like them as much as we do, and let us know how you liked them the most.
For those eating with our chimichurri– try adding a drip of maple syrup on it. You’ll thank us later 😉 .
Chilean Sopaipillas
Ingredients
- 1 cup roasted sweet potato
- 1 cup roasted squash-pumpkin
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp salt
- vegetable oil for deep frying (we used 1 liter/34 oz of oil in a small pot to waste less oil)
For roasted sweet potato and squash-pumpkin
- 1 big sweet potato
- 1 piece squash-pumpkin (around 400-500 grams (about 1 pound) before roasting)
- 1-1½ cup coarse salt
Instructions
Roasted sweet potato and squash-pumpkin (can be made a day in advance)
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ (390℉) with the fan on.
- On a lined baking sheet, place 2 piles of about ½ cup coarse salt each, so that each pile is big enough to place the sweet potato and pumpkin on (see the picture above).
- Rinse the sweet potato and the pumpkin and place each one on a pile of the coarse salt.
- Poke many holes with a knife in the pumpkin.
- Roast in the oven for 45 minutes until both are soft. The pumpkin may need a few minute more.
- The sweet potato should puff up and the skin will come off in one piece. Don't be afraid if it oozes liquid that burns a bit.
Sopaipillas
- In a big mixing bowl, put a cup each of roasted sweet potato and roasted pumpkin (if you just made them, make sure to let it cool down).
- Add ½ tsp salt and mash the sweet potato and pumpkin well with a fork.
- Add 2 cups of flour and mix with a fork, until it's lumpy. Then finish mixing with your hands until it comes together.
- Place your pot with vegetable oil for deep frying on a medium-low heat, while you start rolling your dough.
- Flour your working surface and your rolling pin really well.
- Roll out your dough to about ½ cm (0.2 inch) thickness, flipping it 2-3 times making sure to flour each side if it starts to stick to the surface.
- Poke holes in the dough with a fork, until it's filled up, similar to a pie crust.
- Using a floured glass or big cookie cutter, cut out 9 cm (3.5 inch) diameter circles.
- Make sure your oil is hot enough to start frying by carefully sticking the side of a toothpick in the oil. If little bubbles start to form around it, it's hot enough.
- Fry 4 sopaipillas at a time or more if using a bigger pot, make sure to dust of excess flour before. Fry for about 3-4 minutes until golden, flipping them 2 to 3 times during the process.
- When they're done, take them out and place on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Serve either sweet with maple syrup, powdered sugar or regular sugar, savory with chimichurri or salt, or as is.For those eating the sopaipilla with our chimichurri- try adding a drip of maple syrup on it. You'll thank us later 😉 .
looks and tastes divine