Cagayan Empanada

Orange, shell-shaped, with a smell that lingers in the air and stays at the tip of the nose is the infamous empanada of Cagayan.

You can usually find it sold by street vendors. It’s made of one whole egg, shredded cabbage, and toge without the roots encased in a wrapper made of rice flour mixed with water and orange food color and is deep-fried in oil.

The color is what attracts passersby. In a very affordable price of Php20.00, you can already have one. And if you want something more unique, you can try the ‘Special Empanada’, which has an additional longanisa, or in other places, they also offer tocino for only Php25.00

Toge without roots is also an ingredient on the dish, which is healthy. The Sukang Ilocos, which is its usual partner, or sometimes Catsup makes the empanada more delicious.

The empanada can be bigger than an adult hand or smaller. When compared to other vendors, there’s this one that has the wrapper tastier and with the evidence of salt in the ingredients and another quite watery in the inside and a lame taste of the wrapper, obviously without the taste of salt.

So if you like the best empanada in Cagayan, best find the one that has the long line of people and make sure it’s what will make your first taste of Cagayan Empanada, worth the travel.