Hayacas
I once heard someone describe an Hayacas as “the essence of Venezuela wrapped in a banana leaf” and I couldn’t agree more. This dish is a traditional Venezuelan Christmas dish that has been passed down from generation to generation. It’s a dish that’s known in every Venezuelan home but its ingredients and preparation vary depending on preference. My mom has her own style and depending on who she’s making them for, she’ll tweak the recipe to show her love and affection to whoever is eating that day.
Today I’m sharing her basic recipe that starts off with the stuffing, goes through the banana leaf preparation and I’ll also share my mom’s favorite embellishments. Again, depending on who you ask, the recipe can be tweaked according to preference. This is how my mom has made them over the years and how we have come to know and love them.
Venezuelan Hayacas
Makes 24-26 Hayacas
Guiso (stuffing) ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts – cooked and shredded
- 3.5 lbs boneless pork loin – 1/2 inch cubes – fat removed
- 1 medium leak – chopped small
- 2 bunches of green onions – green and white parts
- 1 medium white onion – diced small
- 1 large red pepper small cubes
- 1 large head of garlic (about 10 cloves) minced
- 2 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 1 tablespoon of paprika
- 2 cups of tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup large capers – drained
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 cup red wine (cab or blend)
Masa (dough) ingredients
- Annato seeds or paste – 2 tablespoons
- 6.5 cups of chicken stock warm (if home made read the tips below)
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 2lb package of PAN precooked white cornmeal
Banana leaves (fresh or frozen) 4.5 lbs
Embellishments
- 6 hard boiled eggs cut into 1/4 longways
- 1 cup of raisins
- 2 cups of stuffed green olives
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper thinly sliced
4.5 lbs banana leaves – you can use fresh or frozen. If you’re using frozen – defrost, rinse in cold water and devide them.
INSTRUCTIONS
Stuffing Instructions
In a large stew pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in high heat and add the pork. Sauté for 5 minutes then add the ground pepper, salt, oregano, and paprika. Sauté for another 5 minutes. Add the chopped leek, red pepper, green onion, and white onion. Mix all together and let cook on high heat, mixing for 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and garlic. Mix and lower the heat to medium-high. Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes and then add the wine. Let simmer in low heat for 10 minutes covered. Add the shredded chicken, mix, and turn the heat off. Cover and let rest for at least 5 minutes or until ready for assembly.
Masa
In a small bowl, add the Annatto to 1/2 cup of warm vegetable oil and let it sit for 5 minutes until the oil is fragrant and deep red. In a large mixing bowl, add the chicken stock, melted stick of butter, 1/2 of the annatto mixture, salt, and mix to combine. Add the entire package of PAN cornmeal to the chicken stock mixture. Using your hands, mix to combine until the dough resembles play-dough. Add warm water if the texture is too hard and needs to be softened. Set aside until ready to assemble.
Prepping the fresh Banana leaves
Carefully, spread the fresh banana leaves out and divide them into sections. You’ll set out 25 1ft x 1ft (or a bit bigger) sections and keep the “extras” smaller sections separate (see pictures). Heat a grill to high heat. (Skip this step if using frozen banana leaves) and heat each section of the banana leaf evenly to soften its fibers about 30 seconds per section, moving it through the heat to cover the section entirely. The leaves will turn from a white fibrous texture to a deep green malleable texture.
After they’ve all been heated through, rinse each section with water and set it aside for assembly keeping the larger and smaller sides separate.
Assembly
Starting with a larger sectioned banana leaf, spread 1 tsp of vegetable or olive oil in the center spreading it to ensure the masa doesn’t stick. Place a palm-full of the masa in the center and with your fingertips spread it to a 7-8 inch diameter. Add 2 tablespoons of the guiso to the center of the masa distributing 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. Add the embellishments. One slice of egg, one slice of pepper, two thin slices of onions, three olives, and 3-4 raisins.
Using the banana leaf, bring the top section to fold the banana leaf and masa over the guiso towards yourself and fold back out leaving the masa over the guiso and releasing the banana leaf. Do the same with the bottom section folding the masa over itself towards the center repeating on both sides.
Once the masa forms a tight pocket over the guiso and embellishments, bring the top section of the banana leaf over the pocket, bring the bottom upwards over the folded banana leaf and do the same with both sides. This should leave you with the hayaca pocket that’s been wrapped in the banana leaf. Similar to an envelope.
Place one of the smaller sectioned banana leaves diagonally and then place the enveloped hayaca so the fibrous lines are perpendicular to each other. Fold the smaller banana leaf over the hayaca to form a second envelope. This will keep water from getting into the masa.
Measure out 1 yard of kitchen twine and wrap the hayaca in thirds turning the hayaca as you twist the twine. (See images)
Make a tight knot when the hayaca is wrapped and set aside until ready to cook.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt the water (use more than you’d think you need) add the hayacas, cover and boil for 45 minutes.
Turn the heat off and bring out all of the hayacas onto a sheet pan and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. This will allow the cooked masa to set and become easier to unwrap.
Carefully unwrap the hayaca and enjoy!
Extra tips
Chicken breast – you can bring 6.5 cups of water to boil and add a pinch of salt, 1/4 of an onion and 1/4 of a pepper. Bring the water to a boil and add the chicken breasts. Boil the chicken for 40 minutes. Pull out the chicken breasts and shred using two forks. Drain and reserve the liquid and use it as the stock portion of the recipe.
Leeks — to dice leeks super small Julianne them by laying them all one on top of the other and slice longways. Then cut perpendicular to cut into cubes.
Banana leaves – the idea is that you’re going to have a smaller leaf to wrap the hayacas in and then a larger 1×1 leaf as an outer wrapping to ensure that there’s no water that enters the hayacas itself. As you go through the banana leaf, you’ll notice that there are tears throughout the leaf. Use these as a guide to show you where the natural cuts should be. Depending on the size of the cut leaf you’ll separate.
When heating the banana leaves carefully place the cut leaf on the grill with the lighter side up. As the leaf heats up, the fibrous lighter side will change to a glossy green. Move the leaf through the heat to allow for the heat to cook the Hayaca leaf evenly without burning. It should take about 30 seconds per section.
Masa – should be malleable and play dough consistency. If it’s too dry, keep warm water handy (or extra chicken stock) to hydrate the dough and bring it to the right consistency.
