Catibias o Cativias (Dominican Yucca Empanadas)

• First wash and peel the yucca. Remove all brown outer skin and the under layer (dark rose) directly beneath the rough brown skin. Make sure your yucca is bright white.
• Grate the yucca (cassava) finely, you can do this in a food processor, it should have the texture of grated coconut. With a cheese cloth, squeeze all the liquid out of the yucca.
• In a heavy bottomed pot and add ¾ cup of the water, the yucca and 1 teaspoon of salt. Turn the heat up to medium or medium high. Stir this mixture constantly. This step consist only in cooking the dough so it will be pliable and easy to work with, the dough should not be over cook or burnt and this will ruin your dough, you will continue to stir, approximately for about 15 minutes. When the dough is done it will turn transparent, it will still be sticky, that is ok, that is normal. Let the dough cool.

Prepare your sofrito

• In a frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil, when is ready throw in: the onion, bell pepper, and 2 garlic cloves, at the moment when they begin turning transparent add the tomatoes and tomato paste, let this mixture simmer for 15 minutes at a very low heat.
• In a frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil, when is ready throw the rest of the garlic and the shrimps, stir so it won't stick to the bottom of the pan, until golden, then deglaze with the rum, scrap all the bottom, add the sofrito and the cilantro let it simmer for a 3 to 5 minutes, all the liquid should have evaporated at this time. Let the mixture cool down.
• Cover your hands with oil; this will make it easier to handle the dough. Take the dough and begin forming balls (a little bigger than golf balls) and with a rolling pin or a tortilla maker rolled out or squeeze the dough into circles (you can use plastic film wrap or brushed some vegetable oil into your rolling pin or tortilla maker or both). Make a circle and add the filling (big tablespoon) in the middle, then fold over and press to seal. Repeat until you are out of dough.
• Fry in hot oil, until golden brown (in the edges) then put over paper towels to extract all the oil. Enjoy right away.