Coxinha

Ingredients

Chicken

• 700 gchicken thigh or breast
• 1onion
• 2bay leaves
• 1.2 litreswater
• salt

Filling

• 1onion, finely chopped
• 3 clovesgarlic
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 3 tbspchopped parsley
• 200 gcream cheese or requeijão, optional
• salt and pepper

Dough

• the chicken broth, measured
• 500 gplain flour
• 50 gbutter
• 1 tspsalt

Coating

• 3eggs, beaten
• 300 gfine dry breadcrumbs

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• hot, with hot sauce

Directions

1. Bring the measured broth to a boil with the butter, then tip in all the flour at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon. Beat it over the heat until it forms a smooth ball that pulls away cleanly from the sides of the pan. Cooking the flour in the hot broth gelatinises the starch, which is what makes the dough pliable enough to shape by hand without cracking.
2. Keep working it on the heat for three or four minutes, which dries it out and firms it. Now the ratio of broth to flour, which needs some judgement.
3. Use roughly equal weights of broth and flour as a starting point. A dough that is too wet will not hold its shape, and one that is too dry cracks as you mould it. Knead it for several minutes until it is completely smooth and elastic, like soft modelling clay.
4. Knead it while warm, since a cooled dough is stiff and will not come together properly. Cover it with a damp cloth while you work, since it dries out and cracks quickly. Poach the chicken in the water with onion and bay for about thirty minutes, then shred it very finely. Keep every drop of the broth, since it is the liquid for the dough and this is where the flavour comes from.
5. Shred the chicken finely rather than chopping it, since coarse pieces make the shell difficult to close. Fry the onion and garlic, add the tomato paste and cook it out, then stir in the shredded chicken and parsley.
6. Cook the filling until it is thick and holds together, with no free liquid. A wet filling makes the shell soggy from within and it splits open in the oil. Let it cool completely, and stir in cream cheese if you want the richer modern version. Chill the filling, which makes it far easier to enclose. Now the shaping, which takes practice.
7. Take a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and flatten it in your palm into a disc. Press it out thinly and evenly, since a thick shell is doughy and a thin patch bursts. Put a spoonful of the cold filling in the centre. Seal it thoroughly with no gaps, since any opening lets the filling out and the oil in. Squeeze and taper it gradually rather than pulling, which tears the dough.
8. Set them on a tray as you shape each one. Now chill the shaped coxinhas for at least an hour before coating. Make sure the whole surface is covered, including the pointed tip. Chill them again for thirty minutes after coating. Do not crowd the pan, both because it drops the temperature and because a burst coxinha makes the oil foam.
9. Fry for four to five minutes until deep golden all over. They are already cooked inside, so this is about colouring the crust and heating the filling through. Drain them on a rack rather than paper. Serve them hot, with hot sauce, and warn people that the filling inside is scalding. They freeze extremely well shaped and coated, and fry from frozen with an extra minute or two.

Technique

• The shape imitates a chicken drumstick, which is what the name refers to.
• The dough is cooked in the chicken broth, which is what makes it mouldable.
• They freeze well shaped and coated.

Substitutions

• Requeijão or cream cheese for the richer modern filling.
• Shop-bought chicken stock if you are not poaching a bird.

Variations

• With catupiry or cream cheese through the filling.
• Made small, as party food.
• Baked rather than fried, which is drier.

Frequently asked questions

What is Coxinha?

Coxinha is a street food from Brazil: teardrop-shaped fried croquettes of creamy shredded chicken.

How long does Coxinha take to make?

Coxinha takes 1 hr plus 2 hr chilling of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 24. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Coxinha?

Yes, within limits. Requeijão or cream cheese for the richer modern filling. Shop-bought chicken stock if you are not poaching a bird.

What is the most important thing to get right in Coxinha?

Shred the chicken finely rather than chopping it, since coarse pieces make the shell difficult to close. Fry the onion and garlic, add the tomato paste and cook it out, then stir in the shredded chicken and parsley.