Name: Pastéis of Chicken, Cream Cheese & Green Olives
Yield: Makes 30–40 Small Pastéis
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 medium onion, very finely chopped; 450 g (1 lb) boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder; lime wedges, to serve; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 3 spring onions (scallions), chopped; 20–30 pitted green olives, halved lengthways; Tabasco (or other hot pepper) sauce, to serve (optional); 2 tbsp tomato purée (paste); juice of ½ lime; 2 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for deep-frying; 4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; freshly ground salt and black pepper; 100 g (3½ oz/½ cup) cream cheese; 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Preparation info

Makes
30–40
Small

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Nikkei Cuisine

By Luiz Hara

Published 2015

About

Made with pastry that is paper-thin, filled with a variety of savoury or sweet fillings and then deep-fried, pastéis are lighter and crispier than empanadas. They are believed to have been created when Japanese immigrants started deep-frying gyoza (Japanese dumplings) to sell as snacks at weekly fruit and vegetable street markets, known in Brazil as feiras. Pastéis stalls are usually run by Nikkei families at such markets and their delicious pastéis are ev