TEQUEÑOS
VENEZUELAN CHEESE STICKS
Tequeños are ubiquitous across Venezuela, loved by all, children and adults alike. Much like the Italian Mozzarella stick, the Tequeño gets its great appeal through the mixture of hot, melted cheese, covered in a crisp doughy exterior, shape as a dippable stick-like finger food. These have proven to be very popular across the world as the immigration of Venezuelans has carried them far, I don't doubt these will evolve with time and somehow become a varied staple over time. They're quite easy to make, the hardest part is finding a good cheese to use.
YIELD: Approx. 8 tequeños.
INGREDIENTS:
| 280g (2 cups) |
All-Purpose Flour (King Arthur Preferred) |
| 1/2tsp | Salt |
| 1/4 tsp | Baking Powder |
| 60 ml (1/4 cup)+ | Water (A bit more added while mixing) |
| 60 ml (1/4 cup) | Milk |
| 60 ml (1/4 cup) | Vegetable Oil |
| 1Tbsp | Brown Sugar |
| 1 block | Cheese for Frying (Queso Blanco works well too) |
QUESO BLANCO:
Choosing a correct cheese to use can be daunting if you don't have a clear idea of what a tequeño should taste like. A proper cheese will be firm and slightly chewy, not crumbly. The cheese should melt when heated/fried but still hold its shape (the reason mozzarella is not ideal is because it liquefies too much when melted). The flavor of the cheese should be that of a fresh, slightly acidic cheese. Biting into a tequeno should have cheese all throughout the thickness, the cheese should have a firm texture with the faintest squeak while chewing.
TOOL NOTE:
Tequeños benefit from a minimally worked dough to avoid being overly tough. One good way to roll out the dough quickly and to a consistent thickness is using a pasta machine. You may need to lightly dust the dough with flour to keep it from sticking to the rollers while running through the machine, but it will make quick work of the dough. What's more is that the pasta machine makes it easy to roll out extra long strips of dough that are perfect to keep you wraping many tequeños with confidence.
PREPPING THE DOUGH:
- Place the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add water, vegetable oil, milk, and brown sugar to a bowl and stirr until the sugar dissolves. Then incorporate into the whisked dough in a large bowl until it forms a doughy ball.
- Knead the flour gently until it starts to create a smooth dough. Do not over knead or it will create overly tough tequenos.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a thick disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
ASSEMBLING THE TEQUEÑOS:
- After 30 minutes, unwrap the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knead with your hands minimally until the dough is smooth. The dough should feel moist, firm, and smooth; it should not feel dry or crack while kneading. If the dough is tough and dry, cut it with a knife into small pieces, sprikle some water over the pieces and knead back into a ball. Let rest and try again until it yields a slightly moist dough. Do not do this twice or you will have very tough tequeños.
- Roll the dough out into a 12 x 15-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick. You can do this by hand with a roller or with a pasta machine --you will likely make two 4-6" long strips instead of a large rectangle wit hthe pasta machine.
- Using a knife, or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1-inch wide strips lengthwise so that you end up with 12 strips.
- Cut the cheese block into 8 rectangular sticks roughly 1/2"x1/2"x4". You can make them any size you want, but be consistent.
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Take one strip of dough and cover one of the ends of one cheese stick, then run it down the length of the stick to the other end and back up in one long loop.
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Before you complete the loop, start to wrap dough around the stick in a spiral fashion to secure the tip of your dough.
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Continue the spiral down the length of the stick, taking care to overlap the edges until you reach the other end.
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Cover the other end with dough and pinch edges close to seal thoroughly. The cheese has to be completely covered with dough. I often lighly roll the tequeño in between my palms to press and seal the overlapping edges to each other. Don't smooth out the tequeño, and don't crush the corners and make holes in the dough while doing this.
- Repeat these steps with all the tequeños.
- At this point you can pick wether you're frying the tequeños or freezing them for later. You should not freeze fried tequenos since they won't re-fry well. If you want to freeze them for later, lightly coat the exterior of the tequenos with corn starch (or any starch) to prevent from sticking to each other. You can put up to four or five tequenos into a ziplock quart freezer bag comfortably, don't over fill the bag or they will be difficult to remove once frozen.
FRYING THE TEQUEÑOS:
- I like to put about two or three inches of oil in a saucepan or caldero. Something with tall sides and a lid to prevent spatter but leave enough space inside for the oil and food to flow freely without touching the bottom or sides of the pot.
- Heat the oil to 350°F (use a frying thermometer or dip a wet wooden spoon in the oil to tell if its hot) then fry the tequeños in batches of 3 or 4 at a time. Turning them once or twice using tongs until they're golden on all sides. Try to avoid handling them too much since the cheese may start to seep out when it melts
- Remove the tequenos and place them in a plate lined with napkins to absob the excess oil and let cool for a minute or so.
- Serve the tequenos by themselves or with some dipping sauces of your liking.
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