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Empanada came from the spanish verb "empanar", meaning to wrap or coat in bread.  Usually the empanada is made by folding a thin circular - shaped dough patty over the stuffing, creating its typical semicircular shape.  Empanadas are also known by a wide variety of regional names such as "Galician Empanada" of Portugal,  "salteñas" in Bolivia, and "pastelitos" in Cuba.  These are just some of the names of empanada from different countries around the world.

Filipino empanadas usually contain ground beef or chicken meat, potato, chopped onion, and raisins (somewhat similar to the Cuban "picadillo") in a sweetish wheat flour dough.  Some filipinos are not partial to the sweetish flavor notes and prefer empanadas that are closer to the Hispanic versions.  There are doughy baked versions, as well as flaky fried versions.  Often, to lower cost, potatoes are added as a filler.

However, empanadas in the Northern Ilocos Region are very different. The empanada contains a savory filling of green papaya, monggo beans, and upon request, chopped ilocano sausage(longganisa), and egg.  The Ilocano Empanada uses orange colored rice flour rather than the soft, sweet dough to enclose the filling.  Achuette is used to come up with the unique orange coloring of the empanada's crust.  While the Filipinos are used to soft empanada crust, Ilocano Empanadas are crispy because these are deep fried rather than baked.  Empanada in Batac started in the late 1950's and from then on, this delicacy attracted many people to visit the town which made it popular other than being the 'Home of the Great Leaders'. 


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The orange colored empanadas are cooked on site where everyone can see how these are made and cooked which makes everyone certain that these are clean and newly cooked. Tourist often take pictures and record a video of how these are made because of its unique and skillful manner of preparation and cooking.   


A newly cooked empanada with longganisa and egg is good for a complete meal.  Try it with ketchup and sukang Iloko with chili.  You can even choose from the different contents of the empanada.  May it be with or without longganisa, eggless, with two eggs or with two longganisa.  If you are a big eater, choose jumbo empanada which has everything on it--longanisa, egg and hotdog. 


Food stalls that specializes the Ilocano Empanadas are located at the riverside near the Immaculate Conception Parish, Immaculate Conception Academy and Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School.
The Riverside Empanadaan is a showcase of the most famous product of Batac and a hallmark of tourist promotion.  A home of Batac’s array of products; gift shops; food stall offering mouth watering treats like miki, longganisa, pusit, barbecue and others.  It serves as a “mini pueblo” or a mini mall where people converge eat dine, and shop.