For the guiso

1. Place the whole piece of pork in a heavy pan such as a caldero or a Dutch oven. Top the meat with cold water, add salt and pepper, and cook for 45 minutes.
2. Remove the meat and save the broth in a separate container. Cut the meat into small, 1 inch cubes, set aside. 
3. Rinse the caldero and add olive oil and let it heat for a minute or so. 
4. Add the remaining guiso ingredients and let them cook for five minutes until well blended. 
5. Add the cubed meat and broth to the pan and let it cook at low heat for 2 hours until the meat is extremely soft. Stir it periodically. 

For the masa

1. Peel the yuca. To save time, I buy the yuca frozen. If you want to go that route, ensure you defrost the yuca entirely. 
2. Run the pieces of yuca through the food processor. I like to grate it first and then run it through the large blade to get a smooth masa. If you don’t have a food processor, I recommend a box grater using the smallest holes. 
3. Once you grate the yuca, use a cheesecloth to get rid of extra moisture. If you don’t have a cheesecloth, you can also use a sieve, and it will take longer, but you will get the same results. 
4. Add the milk, achiote oil, and spices to the masa. You can store the masa in the refrigerator overnight if you need to space out your pastel process. 

To wrap the pasteles de yuca

Wapping the pasteles de yuca is better explained visually. We show you how to wrap the pasteles in the video.