Coxinha
Coxinha is the teardrop-shaped chicken croquette sold in every Brazilian bakery and snack bar, named after the chicken drumstick whose shape it imitates. The dough is a scalded flour paste made with the broth the chicken was poached in, which is why a coxinha tastes of chicken all the way through rather than only in its filling. Inside sits shredded thigh meat bound with requeijão, the Brazilian spreadable cheese, and the whole thing is breaded and deep-fried until the shell crackles. The two things that decide the result are kneading the dough while it is still hot and sealing the shell without trapping air.
Ingredients
- 500 gchicken thighs
- 700 mlchicken stock
- 500 gplain flour
- 40 gunsalted butter
- 1 pieceonion
- 2 clovesgarlic
- 150 grequeijão
- 2 tbspchopped parsley
- 2 pieceseggs
- 200 gbreadcrumbs
- 1 lvegetable oil for frying
- 1.5 tspfine sea salt
Method
- Poach the boneless chicken thighs in the stock at a bare simmer for 20 minutes, then lift them out and keep every drop of the liquid. That broth becomes the dough, and using water instead is the single most common reason a home coxinha tastes flat.
- Shred the cooled chicken finely with two forks. Fry the chopped onion and garlic in a little butter until soft, mix them through the chicken with the parsley, half the requeijão and salt, and chill the filling so it firms up.
- Bring 700 ml of the reserved broth to a rolling boil with the remaining butter and the salt, then tip in all the flour at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon off the heat until no dry flour remains.
- Return the pan to low heat and cook the dough 3 to 5 minutes, pressing and folding, until it comes away from the sides in one ball and leaves a thin film on the base of the pan.
- Turn the hot dough onto a work surface and knead it 5 minutes, working through the heat with oiled hands or a scraper, until it is completely smooth and elastic. Dough kneaded cold stays grainy and cracks when you shape it.
- Flatten 40 g pieces into discs in your palm, add a spoon of filling and a small knob of requeijão, close the dough over it and pinch out a point so it takes the drumstick shape. Press out any air pocket as you seal, since trapped air bursts the shell in the fryer.
- Roll each one in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs, and chill 30 minutes. Fry at 170 to 175 °C for 4 to 5 minutes, five or six at a time, until deep gold, drain on a rack and eat warm.
FAQ
Air trapped inside when you sealed them, a gap in the breading, or oil above 180 °C. Press the dough closed from the filling outward so the air escapes, check every one for bare patches before frying, and keep the oil at 170 to 175 °C, adding only five or six at a time.
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