I consider tequeños as Venezuelan cheese sticks. Easy pastry dough will get wrapped round cheese and deep fried till golden brown. Serve a tequeño along with your favourite dipping sauce and also you’ve received a formidable appetizer!
These days I’ve been targeted on a number of traditional Venezuelan recipes as they make me really feel near my mom’s aspect of our household (she was born in Venezuela and moved to the US in elementary faculty). Meals and cooking is such a enjoyable a part of tradition and it’s simply a type of little issues that as I develop up I crave extra of.
Associated: Subsequent up attempt our recipe for cachapas or arepas.
Tequeño Components
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Water
- Cheese- queso blanco, queso semiduro, or low moisture mozzarella
- Oil for frying – canola or vegetable oil work nicely
The right way to make Tequeños
Begin by making the dough. In a big mixing bowl mix the flour and salt. Minimize the chilly butter into small items and incorporate it into the flour combination. A pastry blender is an efficient software for this or you should utilize your clear fingers (that is what I do). It ought to resemble small pebbles.
Subsequent Add the egg and 1/4 cup chilly water. Stir collectively till the dough kinds a shaggy ball. If it appears too dry to stay collectively chances are you’ll want 1-2 extra tablespoons of chilly water. The dough needs to be a barely softer model of pie crust dough. Permit the dough to relaxation for a couple of minutes.
Minimize the cheese into small sticks. I are inclined to purpose for mozzarella cheese sticks (the sort you purchase which can be individually wrapped for snacking) measurement however then lower in half lengthwise. You may as well check out the photographs on this put up to get an thought of the dimensions you might be aiming for with the cheese.
Roll the dough into a big rectangle. Minimize into skinny strips, I exploit a pizza cutter to do that. Wrap every cheese stick within the dough, sealing the ends however dapping a bit of water onto the dough and urgent collectively.
In a big pot or forged iron skillet warmth the oil to round 375°F. Deep fry the tequeños within the oil for 3-4 minutes. Rotate them midway via so all sides get crispy and golden brown. Switch to a plate with paper towels after to take away extra oil.
Serve heat with no matter dipping sauce you favor!
Notes and Substitutions
- Queso blanco and queso semiduro are extra conventional selections for the the filling in tequeños however I all the time use low moisture mozzarella because it’s simpler for me to search out. Actually any salty, exhausting melting cheese will work in these.
- I reference mozzarella cheese sticks to offer you an thought of the thickness you might be aiming to chop the cheese into. However, I don’t advocate utilizing cheese sticks as usually the mozzarella used for these isn’t low moisture and so tends to be too tender to carry up nicely in deep frying.
- Wrapping the tequeños is talent. It’s not tough however it might take one or two earlier than you get the cling of it.
- In case your tequeños leak a bit of throughout frying it’s OK! The cheese will flip into little crunchy bits that keep on with the surface and IMO make these even higher.
- These are flaky and flippantly candy on the surface with a salty, melted cheese inside. They’re scrumptious however a bit of plain. Sauce is a should! My best choice is guasacaca (Venezuelan avocado sauce) or salsa rosa (mayo and ketchup—add a splash of sizzling sauce when you dare). Salsa work nice. However another choice, utterly untraditional, is marinara sauce.
- Tequeños are greatest the day they’re made, heat from the preliminary cooking. When you do have leftovers you possibly can rewarm them within the air fryer for a couple of minutes.
Extra Latin American and Tex-Mex Recipes
- Chalupa
- Quesadillas
- Ceviche
- Torta
- Pozole
- Elote
- Chicharron
- Mole Sauce
- Chipotle Sauce
- Queso
- Enchilada Sauce
- Rooster Verde Enchiladas
- Taco Dip
- Birria Tacos
- Chimichangas
- Fajitas
- Huevos Rancheros
- Taco Salad
Regularly Requested Questions
Are you able to air fry tequeños?
This recipe is for selfmade tequeños. I did take a look at air frying them and IMO, no. It’s not superb though technically works. I do suppose air frying store-bought (already cooked and frozen) tequeños would work nicely thought.
Are you able to bake tequeños?
Sure, this recipe for from scratch tequeños may be baked within the oven as an alternative of deep fried. When you do brush the surface with both egg wash or a bit of oil and bake at 400°F for September 11 minutes. The skin ought to look golden brown.
Can I exploit pie crust to make tequeños?
No. Pie crust usually doesn’t comprise egg, so it’s a bit of denser and fewer ‘fluffy’ than the pastry dough used for tequeños.
Tequeño
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Components
- 2 cups all objective flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter chilly
- 1 egg
- 4-6 tablespoons water chilly
- 16 ounces low moisture mozzarella
Directions
-
Begin by making the dough. In a big mixing bowl mix the flour and salt. Minimize the chilly butter into small items and incorporate it into the flour combination. It ought to resemble small pebbles.
-
Subsequent Add the egg and 1/4 cup chilly water. Stir collectively till the dough kinds a shaggy ball.
-
If it appears too dry to stay collectively chances are you’ll want 1-2 extra tablespoons of chilly water. The dough needs to be a barely softer model of pie crust dough.
-
Permit the dough to relaxation for a couple of minutes.
-
Minimize the cheese into small sticks. I are inclined to purpose for mozzarella cheese sticks (the sort you purchase which can be individually wrapped for snacking) measurement however then lower in half lengthwise.
-
Roll the dough into a big rectangle. Minimize into skinny strips, I exploit a pizza cutter to do that.
-
Wrap every cheese stick within the dough, sealing the ends however dapping a bit of water onto the dough and urgent collectively.
-
In a big pot or forged iron skillet warmth the oil to round 375°F.
-
Deep fry the tequeños within the oil for 3-4 minutes. Rotate them midway via so all sides get crispy and golden brown.
-
Switch to a plate with paper towels after to take away extra oil.
Notes
- Queso blanco and queso semiduro are extra conventional selections for the the filling in tequeños however I all the time use low moisture mozzarella because it’s simpler for me to search out. Actually any salty, exhausting melting cheese will work in these.
- I reference mozzarella cheese sticks to offer you an thought of the thickness you might be aiming to chop the cheese into. However, I don’t advocate utilizing cheese sticks as usually the mozzarella used for these isn’t low moisture and so tends to be too tender to carry up nicely in deep frying.
- Wrapping the tequeños is talent. It’s not tough however it might take one or two earlier than you get the cling of it.
- In case your tequeños leak a bit of throughout frying it’s OK! The cheese will flip into little crunchy bits that keep on with the surface and IMO make these even higher.
- These are flaky and flippantly candy on the surface with a salty, melted cheese inside. They’re scrumptious however a bit of plain. Sauce is a should! My best choice is guasacaca (Venezuelan avocado sauce) or salsa rosa (mayo and ketchup—add a splash of sizzling sauce when you dare). Salsa work nice. However another choice, utterly untraditional, is marinara sauce.
- Tequeños are greatest the day they’re made, heat from the preliminary cooking. When you do have leftovers you possibly can rewarm them within the air fryer for a couple of minutes.
