This recipe is part of the Indonesian cooking workshops presented by Marlôt.
Pasteitjes, also called pastel or empananda in other countries, is a Dutch-Indonesian pastry filled snack. I grew up making this delicacy with my family. We shared it with our friends and neighbors, served it at parties and as a hearty snack for afternoon visitors. We packed the leftovers for lunch, and made an extra batch for train travel and camping trips. Although making pasteitjes is time consuming, after awhile, you’ll remember the recipe and putting the pastry together with the filling in the mold will go faster.
Inspired by the Dutch filled pastry, such as saucijzenbroodje, the Indo people created their version and so pasteitjes were born. This workshop recipe has different options you can choose from, fish, meat or vegetarian pasteitjes.
The common way is to fry them in hot oil. At home we always fry them but nowadays people are more conscious about eating seed oil or cutting out anything fried from their diet. Thus for a healthier option you can bake them in the oven.
In this workshop we use the ready made pastry because we have a limited time to finish all the recipes on the roster. The pastry dough recipe made from scratch is in the recipe description.
If you prefer gluten free, use the all purpose gluten free flour. For ready made pastry dough, use the gluten free option.
Enjoy making it. It will taste so good, you’ll make it again and friends will ask you to please make it again.
Pasteitjes are delicious on there own or with any other side dish. 
Pasteitjes, fish, beef or vegetarian
Equipment
- 1 Empanada (pasteitje) press or molder
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 cups = 480g all-purpose flour
- 1 stick = 113g butter softened
- 1 tsp salt
- 1¼ cups = 236ml water cold
Bumbu (spice mix)
- 1 onion cut small
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp coriander (ketoembar)
- 1 tsp galangal (laos)
- ½ tsp tumeric
- ½ tsp cumin (djintin)
- 1 tbsp sambal
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Filling for vegetarian
- 1 carrot cut in small pieces
- 1 cup peas
- 1 onion
- 1 leek sliced in small pieces
- 1 veggie cube
- 3 tbsp coconut milk
- ½ block tofu (optional) cut into small cubes
Filling for meat
- ½ pound = 250g ground beef or ground turkey or chicken
- 2 tbsp soya sauce (kecap)
Filling for fish
- 150 grams fish made in small pieces
Instructions
Making the dough
- Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and salt and egg (optional) and knead while gradually adding the water. Knead into a nice ball of dough. It should be firm and stretch a little. Put the dough in the refrigerator.
Making the filling
- Mix all the ingredients except the coconut oil in an oelekan (mortal and pestle) Grind until it looks like a paste. Sauté the bumbu and the vegetables in the coconut oil. When it gets too dry, add a tablespoon of water.
- For the vegetarian option, add the vegetables, coconut milk, veggie cube and the tofu to the bumbu. Simmer on low temperature until done. (5 to 7 minutes)The filling should be cooked and soft but not overcooked. Add salt to taste.
- For the meat, ground beef pasteitjes, add the beef to the bumbu and break it apart with a spatula. Keep stirring until the beef is fine and crumbly. This might take a while. Add kecap and salt to taste. Add the peas and carrot (cut in small pieces). Add the coconut milk. If you want to use chicken instead of beef, use precooked small pieces of chicken and follow the same recipe as the vegetarian option but instead of tofu, add chicken.
- For the fish filling. Use precooked pieces of fish cut in small pieces. After you Sauté the bumbu, add the fish, mix and stir for 1 minute. Add all the other ingredients except the tofu. Cook until the vegetables are soft.
- Beat 1 egg in a separate bowl and keep it close. Use flour and parchment paper to roll the dough. Make a round sheet that fits the pasteitje press. Add some flour to the press so the dough won't stick and put the flat round piece of dough so it covers the press. Use a brush to paint the sheet with egg. (you can use water if you are dairy free). Then add 1 ½ tablespoon of filling to one side. Fold over the press. Hold it firm and cut off the dough edges. Carefully take the pasteitje out of the mold and put it on a baking sheet. Make about 10 pieces.
- For oven bake. Bake the pasteitjes for 15 to 20 minutes in a 350 °F (180°C) oven.For deep fry: in a deep drying pan or wok, add cooking oil (sunflower oil or coconut oil) and measure about 3 inches deep. You can check when the oil is ready for frying, by dipping the handle of a dry wooden spoon straight into the oil. If you see small bubbles appear around the spoon, the oil is ready. If there are too many bubbles, the oil is too hot. Fry the pasteitjes one by one or two by two, depending on how large the frying pan is. Fry until golden brown. When the oil gets too low, add some more oil. Use your judgment when frying. The pasteitje will get too greasy otherwise.