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Pasteles prep is all done. I repeat, pasteles prep is all done. Making the masa and assembling them with my mami mañana. Banana leaves and parchment readyyyyy.
This morningâs scene. Mami is bringing the yautia and banana leaves.
Had an almost 8lb pork shoulder that I broke down for the filling. Bone (with some meat left on it) to freeze for some beans later. I also kept half of the roast whole with the fat cap for a *smol* pernil since Iâm not cooking for a crowd this year. That went in the freezer too.
*smol* pernil success!
Finished the guisada filling today so it can be ready for tomorrow! I seared and braised the pork chunks down with some other things for 2.5 hours. I wish yâall could smell this. 
I also made a chunky vegan filling with some beans and vegetables in a separate pot. Seasoned the same way.
5 green plantains, 6lbs of calabaza, and a huge bag of guineos all prepped. My fingers are stained because I couldnât find gloves. A bitch is tired. 
I also made more achiote oil. All of the veg for the masa is prepped and ready for grinding down tomorrow. Mami is bringing the yautia and banana leaves to put everything together tomorrow.
I was super excited to find the paper and string for wrapping. And I have some huge banana leaves in the car. Frozen ones to thaw out tomorrow just in case. My body is ready. I havenât had pasteles in years.
And yes, I made sure to write everything down for both the traditional and vegan versions of the pasteles. And Iâll be saving some of the masa to make a batch of alcapurrias as well. All three recipes are going in my holiday e-book. 
Iâm back for more pasteles content! 
Masa prepped (that took the longest 
), cold stewed pork for the filling, achiote oil. The banana leaves and paper are for wrapping up the pasteles.
), cold stewed pork for the filling, achiote oil. The banana leaves and paper are for wrapping up the pasteles.
Forming the pasteles is the fun part and the first few I made were pretty janky because I havenât done this in years. But thatâs okay! Theyâre still gonna taste good, lol. I shared a video over on my IG stories of the entire process. 
Two pasteles are tied together as a pair with some twine. Then, repeat this process forever until the masa runs out. 
The pork pasteles were left plainly wrapped and the vegan batch got a slice of banana leaf on the outside so they can be easily identified in the freezer. And they look pretty. 
I boiled two for 1 hour to photograph and to taste. Meanwhile, I finished wrapping the rest of them (we got just shy of 2 dozen), froze some masa for alcapurrias, froze the leftover fillings for empanadas in the future, and cleaned up. 
Y mira! My cure for being homesick during the holidays. 
Iâm so proud of how these came out. And that, at my big age of 34, I have finally graduated from being in charge of grating viandas for masa to running the assembly line. Fellow Puerto Rican kids, you know the rules and hierarchy of pasteles prep. I made it! 
I donât plan on cooking shit else for the next 2-3 business days. 
I decided to make a meme after getting a few replies from fellow Boricuas over on IG about the hierarchy of making our pasteles. 
