Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gcassava starch
- 200 gqueso Paraguay, or a firm salty white cheese, grated
- 100 gpork fat or butter
- 2eggs
- 100 mlmilk
- 1 tspaniseed
- 1 tspsalt
Filling
- 400 gminced beef
- 1onion, finely chopped
- 2 clovesgarlic, crushed
- 1red pepper, diced
- 1 tspground cumin
- 1 tspdried oregano
- 2hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 12green olives, chopped
- 2 tbspoil
- salt and black pepper
Directions
- Make the filling first. Fry the onion, garlic and pepper, add the beef and the spices, and cook until dry, then stir in the chopped egg and olives.
- Cool it completely before it goes anywhere near the dough. Warm filling melts the fat in the dough before it reaches the oven and the chipa spreads flat.
- For the dough, beat the fat with the grated cheese and the aniseed until creamy.
- Beat in the eggs, then work in the cassava starch and salt, adding milk a spoonful at a time until it comes together.
- Knead until smooth and pliable. Cassava starch behaves nothing like wheat flour: there is no gluten in it, so the dough never becomes elastic and should feel dense and faintly squeaky in the hand.
- Take a handful, flatten it in your palm, put a spoonful of filling in the middle, and close the dough around it into a ball, then flatten it slightly.
- Seal it thoroughly and check for cracks, because the filling will find any gap and burst out through it.
- Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20 to 25 minutes, until pale golden and firm to the touch.
- Eat them warm. Chipa made with cassava starch turns hard and rubbery within a few hours and is only really good on the day it is baked.
- Reheat in a hot oven for 5 minutes if you must, never in a microwave, which makes it tough.
Technique
- Cassava starch, not tapioca pearls and not wheat flour. It is sold as almidón and there is no substitute.
- Aniseed in the dough is standard and it is what makes a chipa taste Paraguayan rather than merely cheesy.
- It is sold from roadside stalls year round and made in quantity for Holy Week.
Substitutions
- A mixture of feta and mozzarella for queso Paraguay, rinsing the feta first if it is very salty.
- Butter in place of pork fat, which is milder.
Variations
- Chipa argolla, ring-shaped and unfilled.
- Chipa guasu, a soft corn and cheese bake rather than a dough.
- With the filling left out entirely, which is the everyday version.
History
Chipa dough wrapped around seasoned minced beef and baked, sold from roadside stalls and at Holy Week.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chipa so’o?
Chipa so’o is a bread & pastry from Paraguay: corn cake stuffed with seasoned minced beef and egg. Chipa dough wrapped around seasoned minced beef and baked, sold from roadside stalls and at Holy Week.
How long does Chipa so’o take to make?
Chipa so’o takes 40 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 16 chipas. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Chipa so’o?
Yes, within limits. A mixture of feta and mozzarella for queso Paraguay, rinsing the feta first if it is very salty. Butter in place of pork fat, which is milder.
What is the most important thing to get right in Chipa so’o?
Knead until smooth and pliable. Cassava starch behaves nothing like wheat flour: there is no gluten in it, so the dough never becomes elastic and should feel dense and faintly squeaky in the hand.
