Tequeños

Tequeños (Venezuelan cheese sticks)

Thin slivers of queso blanco or low-moisture mozzarella wrapped in a delicate, slightly enriched wheat dough and fried until the outside is pale gold and crisp and the cheese inside is molten. The classic Venezuelan party snack, eaten warm so the cheese pulls in long threads.

Prep

45 min

Cook

15 min

Total

60 min

Serves

About 20 tequeños

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •250 g (1¾ cups) all-purpose white flour, plus extra for rolling
• •50 g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
• •1 large egg
• •5 g (1 tsp) granulated sugar
• •4 g (¾ tsp) fine salt
• •80 ml (⅓ cup) cold water, plus 1–2 tsp more if needed
• •250 g (9 oz) queso blanco or low-moisture mozzarella, drained and patted very dry; queso llanero or a firm mozzarella work best. Fresh mozzarella is too wet - see note in steps.
• •1 litre (4 cups) neutral vegetable oil, for frying, peanut or sunflower oil

Steps

1. 1 Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse meal with pea-sized butter pieces. Beat the egg lightly with the 80 ml cold water, pour into the flour and stir with a fork until shaggy. Turn out and knead just until smooth and pliable, about 2 minutes; do not overwork or the dough will be tough. If it feels dry, add water 1 tsp at a time. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
2. 2 Prepare the cheese: Pat the cheese thoroughly dry with paper towels - this is critical so the dough does not get soggy and the cheese does not weep out during frying. Cut into sticks roughly 1 cm wide × 1 cm deep × 7 cm long (about ½″ × ½″ × 2¾″). You need about 20 sticks.
3. 3 Roll the dough: On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out as thinly as you can without tearing, about 2 mm (just under 1/16″). It should be almost translucent. Cut into strips about 2 cm × 18 cm (¾″ × 7″).
4. 4 Wrap the tequeños: Lay one cheese stick near the edge of a strip and roll it up in the dough, like wrapping a small cigar, leaving the ends open. The dough should overlap itself slightly and just enclose the cheese with a thin, even sleeve; press the seam gently to seal. Place seam-side down on a tray. Repeat with all the cheese.
5. 5 Rest: Cover the tray with a clean towel and let the wrapped tequeños rest for 10–15 minutes - this relaxes the dough so it does not spring back when fried and helps the seam seal.
6. 6 Heat the oil: Pour the oil into a heavy pot to a depth of about 4–5 cm (1½–2″). Heat to 170–175 °C (340–350 °F) on a deep-frying thermometer. If you do not have a thermometer, drop in a small scrap of dough; it should sizzle immediately and turn pale gold in about 45 seconds.
7. 7 Fry: Fry 5–6 tequeños at a time, seam-side down first, turning gently, for 2–3 minutes total, until the outside is pale gold and crisp. The cheese inside should be fully melted; if the outside is browning before the cheese melts, the oil is too hot - lower it to 160 °C (320 °F).
8. 8 Drain and serve: Lift out with a slotted spoon onto a wire rack or paper towels. Season very lightly with salt and serve hot, when the cheese pulls in long threads when you bite in. Traditionally accompanied by a pink sauce (ketchup + mayonnaise with a splash of Worcestershire) or guacamole.