Sopaipillas – New Worlder (2024)

• WORDS BY:Pilar Hernandez
• PUBLISHED:February 17, 2021

On rainy days in Santiago, social media is flooded with talk of sopaipillas pasadas, homemade squash-flavored fried dough in a brown sugar syrup. Many Chileans have childhood memories of rainy days in the kitchen, making the dough, rolling it out, piercing it with a fork, and frying it. In the central region of Chile, where squash is always included (which is not the case in other parts of Chile), rains are infrequent and well-announced, giving home cooks lots of time to prepare the squash before kids come home from school.

The afternoon snack of fried dough in a sweet sauce is just one way of eating sopaipillas. We also like them plain or with powdered sugar, and nowadays many people like them savory, with Pebre/Chilean Salsa Fresca, including before a meal at restaurants. Avocado is another popular topping, and we’ve even heard of people topping them with canned mackerel and onions. Like a few other foods in Chile, this one shares its name with another dish—Tex-Mex sopapilla—but the similarity stops there. And most Chileans wouldn’t guess it, but we inherited the word sopaipilla indirectly from the Arabic, and sopaipillas came to Chile via Spanish colonization. ~Eileen Smith + Pilar Hernandez

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 tablespoons lard, shortening, or butter, melted
• Vegetable oil for frying

PREPARATION

1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Add the pumpkin and lard. Pulse it until a soft dough forms.
3. Place the dough on a plate, cover it with a tea towel, and let it rest for 20 minutes.
4. Working on a floured surface, roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness.
5. Cut into 3-inch circles, using a glass or biscuit cutter.
6. Prick with a fork 3 times each.
7. Heat at least 2 inches of oil in a deep pot, until it reaches 350ºF.
8. Working in small batches, 4 to 5 at a time, fry the sopaipillas 2 to 3 minutes each side.
9. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.
10. Serve hot with the topping of your choice.

Reprinted from The Chilean Kitchen: 75 Seasonal Recipes for Stews, Breads, Salads, and co*cktails, Desserts, and More by Eileen Smith, Pilar Hernandez, and Araceli Paz (2020) with permission from Skyhorse Publishing. Click here to purchase your own copy.