Lucky 21 Food Products

Empanada (empanar), according to Wikipedia, means to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing. Stuffing, on the other hand, varies. It ranges from meat, veggies, meat-veggy combination, cheese, fish, beans and other flavors that the eating public fancies. Thanks to the Spaniards, empanada is now popular in the country. Some empanadas are baked, but the more popular Pinoy empanada is the flaky fried version. The “luzon” empanada is far different from the “visayan” empanada. Each region has its own version or variant but the basic principle remains the same, the stuffing is wrapped by dough or bread patty.

Lucky 21 Food Products (21 K-3rd St., Kamuning, Quezon City, 9229605, 9260142, 9261641) sell, among others, empanadas. I tasted three variants, chicken, tuna and ham & cheese. All of them are tasty, rich and distinct in flavor.

The empanadas are light brown in color and covered in coarse and flaky dough. The bite-size empanadas’ stuffing is scanty. Perhaps the amount of stuffing can be contained in one spoon. It should be called empanaditas, instead of empanadas due to its small size. This is the biggest letdown of this product.

The crust is neither hard nor soft. There are residues and flakes after eating the crust. The empanadas of Lucky 21 are not oily. Aside from the outstanding taste, this is the only good thing about this stuffed bread. The inside portion of the dough is generally moist which makes its texture contrasting.

The chicken, tuna and ham & cheese empanadas are delightful to eat. The ham & cheese is my favorite. The proverbial adage “it melts in your mouth” does not hold water in this case but the cheese is really creamy. It’s not salty. The ham gives flavor to the creamy cheese. Against the popular empanadas sold in ‘red’ bakeshops, Lucky 21 is at par, if not, even tastes better.