Sorullos Recipe: Puerto Rican Corn Fritters
A recipe I forgot to add to my cookbook
ATTENZIONE! I’M CALLING FOR YOUR HELP!
I took a gander at my book sales and it appears that I am only 4,509 copies away from reaching a point where my royalties kick in! “Nearly earned out!”
“What can I do to help?” Purchase books! Spread the word and have others purchase books! Post about the book! Write about the book! Make content about the book!
4,509 copies seems like a lot. And it is. However, I have already sold 1,042 copies between January and April of this year. The catch? It has to be 4,509 copies at the retail price of $32.50
Otherwise, it’ll take me longer the reach the goal. Discount price equals discount goal.
Places to purchase the book at retail cost:
Directly from Penguin Random House
Or, find an independent bookstore in your area where you can purchase it. If you aren’t able to physically get down to your local bookstore, you may be able to find it on Bookshop.org which is an “independent company founded to support independent bookstores and provide a platform for them to sell books online. Bookshop.org's mission is to help local, independent bookstores thrive in the age of e-commerce, and they explicitly state in their governance documents that they will never be acquired by Amazon or any other major U.S. retailer.” Boom. Roasted.
I also saw a single copy at the Barnes & Nobles in Sacramento while I was purchasing a puzzle. At this point B&N is suffering the same future fate as independent bookstores. Ironic.
Do you have a favorite local bookstore? Drop the name of the store and your location down in the comments!
Please and thank you.
- ill
It took me a while to realize that I had forgotten to add this recipe to my cookbook. Maybe when I was writing the book I figured I had more than enough fritura recipes in what became its own section. And now I know why so many people who visit Puerto Rico for a short period of time return stateside and say, “Puerto Rican food is nothing but a bunch of fried food.” Yeah, I can see how you would make that mistake while you spend three days guided around by someone who is paid to take you to the most easily accessible and mid tiered restaurants. And then drops you off in Pińones and leaves you to your own devices because all most people want to do is drink and sit on the beach.
I hope some of you reading this newsletter know, because I’ve spent the last ten years of my life trying to educate, that Puerto Rican food is so much more than fried food. It’s also meat and double starch. I kid.
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When Sargento came knocking on my door asking me to create dozens of Puerto Rican (ish) recipes that contained cheese, it was no issue because Puerto Ricans love cheese and some of our recipes already contain cheese. My very first idea was sorullos, or sometimes called sorullitos.
Remember those cheese-filled corndogs at Cheese on a Stick in the mall? That’s a sorullo. In its simplest form. Sometimes it’s just plain corn dough. Sometimes the shredded cheese is mixed within the corn dough and fried. Sometimes it’s a crispy crunchy fried corn dough shell with gooey melty cheese on the inside. Who ain’t gonna like that?! I like to fry mine a lot harder, longer and darker than you’d find most Puerto Ricans cooking theirs. But, I really appreciate the mouthfeel of the craggy texture and the nutty flavor the batter takes on.
You don’t have to fry them this dark, you can fry them until they’re a pale color like the ones you get at Wendy’s.
FOR THE VISUAL LEARNERS!
CHEESE-STUFFED SORULLOS
Yields 8 servings
2 cups water
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
1 ½ cups fine cornmeal
4 sticks Sargento Sharp Natural Cheddar Cheese Snack Sticks
2 cups vegetable oil
Add the water1, salt, and butter to a pot. Bring everything to a boil before measuring out and adding to the cornmeal. Mix well until the consistency resembles a pasty dough and is thick in texture. Remove from heat and place in the refrigerator until cool.
Break cheese sticks in half. Set aside.
Scoop out a few tablespoons of the sorullo dough at a time and shape into a flat oval shape. Add cheese to the center before folding and wrapping the cornmeal dough completely around it.
Over medium high heat in a small pot or skillet, add 1-inch of oil. Fry the sorullos until golden brown all around. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.
You could also use milk or coconut milk
Is cheddar the traditional cheese for these? I understand it’s for the Sargento gig. Just curious about the cheese sitch in Puerto Rico.
Ordered mine from Golden Hour Books in Newburgh, NY!