Name: Brazilian chicken croquettes coxinha
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 4 portions
Ingredients: 400 g chicken breast; 1 pc onion; 2 cloves garlic; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 100 g cream cheese; 3 tablespoons parsley; salt; ground pepper; 500 ml poultry stock; 30 g butter; 300 g plain flour; 2 pcs eggs; 150 g breadcrumbs; 1 l vegetable oil

Step by step process

Filling

1
Start with the filling, as coxinha are Brazilian fried croquettes. Put the chicken breasts in the broth and gently simmer them until tender, about 15 minutes. Then lift out the meat, let it cool and save the broth for the dough.
2
Shred the cooled chicken into fine strands with two forks. Finely chop the onion and press the garlic.
3
Cook the onion until translucent, add the garlic and warm it briefly. Stir in the tomato paste, shredded meat and parsley, then season with salt and pepper. Finally work in the cream cheese so the filling holds together, and let it cool.
TIP:
Sauté the onion over medium heat until golden or translucent. Add the garlic at the end and sauté briefly to release the aroma, but do not burn it.

Dough

4
Strain the reserved broth, top it up to 500 ml, add the butter and heat until the butter melts and the liquid starts to bubble.
5
Pour in all the flour at once and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the pot. Turn it out onto a floured board and briefly knead until smooth.

Shaping and frying

6
Take egg-sized pieces of dough, flatten each in your palm and place a teaspoon of filling in the center. Seal the edges carefully and shape the typical teardrop with a point on top. Work through all the dough to get about 16 pieces.
7
Coat each teardrop in beaten egg and then in breadcrumbs so the crust is even. For a thicker coating, repeat the step once more.
8
Heat the oil in a pot or fryer to 170 °C. Fry the croquettes in small batches until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes, turning them for an even color. Lift the finished pieces onto a paper towel.

Serving

9
Serve the coxinha warm, ideally with lime or a spicy sauce. They taste best freshly fried, when the crust is at its crispest and the filling is creamy.