Good luck with the humita empanadas. Oh, and just so you aren’t surprised, aji molido here is not very spicy. It’s not really red pepper or cayenne pepper. They think it’s spicy, but it isn’t. Chile peppers, ha… Argentines couldn’t handle that kind of fire.

You can sometimes find two types of aji molido: one that’s mild and one that’s “spicy.” If you go to a spice shop in say Chinatown, ask them for both. Teresa also used sweet paprika and spicy paprika. The humita empanadas we made were spicier than those I get here in town, but not spicy if you’re from Louisiana.

Happy cooking!

I’m going to make my humita with some minced aji pepper. I guess they don’t call them chile peppers here??

1 or 2 onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 or 3 corn cobs (shave corn off cob and then chop slightly so it’s not all mushy)
Butter and corn oil
Half cup of milk
Red crushed pepper (aji molido here in Argentina)
Sugar (2 teaspoons)
Black pepper
Salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the oil. Saute the onions and bell peppers until the onions are transparent and the bell pepper soft. Add all of the other ingredients except the flour. Cook the corn for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle flour on the corn mix and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Let it cool overnight. We didn’t let it cool overnight. We stuck it in the freezer and then made the dough. After making the dough, we stuffed the empanadas right away.

Enjoy!