Vigan Empanada (Ilocos Empanada)

Vigan empanda is similar to a taco shell when fried to a crisp with vegetable like grated papaya or bean sprouts and meat filling inside. It is also added with raw egg in the center and will cook together with the empanada when fried. Among the other kinds of empanada, what I love in this kind is the crispy thin shell and when you munch it you will taste the grated papaya and the longganisa plus the soft cooked egg inside. Specially when you dip or pour it with some sukang Iloko, it is absolutely yummy! Cooking this empanada is a little bit tricky although the ingredients are very simple. Making the dough is a challenge if you will not do it properly. Most recipes I see only combines the rice flour with water, oil and coloring to make a dough. But this process will make the dough crumbly and you will be frustrated when filling it with the veggies and meat mixture because it will break the dough before you can fry it. This process is only good if you are using wheat flour but not with rice flour. The technique I learned just by observing is you have to make a roux by cooking the rice flour with water until it turns into a dough. That way it will be elastic enough to make a thin pastry for the Vigan empanada.