Brazilian Coxinha And Three Dipping Sauces
Recipe type: Main,
Cuisine: Brazilian, Street Food
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8 - 12
 
Ingredients
Coxinha Ingredients
  • 600g chicken breasts
  • 5 cups of chicken broth/stock
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 onions, peeled and halved
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 cup cream cheese
  • 3 cups of flour
  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups of very fine bread crumbs
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Brazilian Vinaigrette Ingredients
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • ½ onion
  • 4 medium tomatoes
  • ¼ cup white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
Brazilian (Almost)Hot Sauce Ingredients
  • ⅓ cup white wine vinegar
  • ⅓ cup water
  • ⅓ cup cachaça (or other liqueur)
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 tsp whole coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • sprig fresh basil leaves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
  • 1 - 3 small hot chilli peppers,
Garlic Mayonnaise Ingredients
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or garlic powder or granules
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 315 ml vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, blend bread and set aside 3 cups for later. Excess breadcrumbs freeze well.
  2. Place the chicken breasts in a large pot - we use a wok.
  3. Cover them with the chicken broth or stock, adding water if necessary to make sure the chicken breasts are covered by the liquid.
  4. Add the carrot and one of the onions as well as the bay leaves.
  5. Bring liquid to a gentle simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes.
  6. Set chicken aside to cool, and strain the broth, which you'll use later. Set it aside to cool.
While the chicken is cooling, start on the Vinaigrette.
  1. Roughly chop the peppers, onion (set aside three teaspoons of onion for later) and tomatoes, and add the white wine vinegar and olive oil. Mix well and set aside.
  2. Return to the chicken - finely chop the second onion and garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of butter.
  3. Shred the chicken into very small pieces - I use my Thermomix for this, a food processor will do.
  4. Stir cream cheese and lime juice into the shredded chicken, and add the hot onions and garlic to the chicken mixture.
  5. Measure 3 cups chicken broth. If you have less than three cups, add more stock to bring it to three cups.
  6. Add 3 cups flour, oil, salt and pepper and stir together until smooth.
  7. This next step is really important - without it you have a very wet dough... trust me: Set the saucepan over medium flame and cook, stirring constantly, until the batter forms a smooth mass and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
  8. Chill the chicken and dough for at least an hour.(At this point you could leave it for another day too.)
Move on to the (almost) hot sauce
  1. Put the white wine vinegar, water, cachaça, cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, bay leaf, oregano and basil and salt in a large pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Let it boil for two minutes. Remove from heat, cover the pan and reserve.
  2. In another pan, heat the olive oil, and gently fry the garlic and onion, without letting it burn. Add the chilli peppers as you're using them. Add the vinegar mix pouring through a sieve to remove the herbs and spices.
  3. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the chillis are soft and tender. Remove from heat and reserve.
And make the Garlic Mayonnaise - mash the garlic, or use powder.
  1. Combine the salt and egg yolks in a food processor until well combined. You can use a whisk too. Add the lemon juice and mustard.
  2. Keep the food processor running, and very slowly add the oil, a few drops at a time initially and as the mixture becomes a thick mayonnaise, you can add it a bit faster. Cover and set aside.
  3. By now the chicken should be cool enough for the final phase.
  4. Flour your hands well, and break off a golf-ball sized piece of dough. Flatten it in your hand, into a rough round.
  5. Place a tablespoon of the filling into the middle of the dough and wrap the sides up to encase the filling. Shape the dough into a drumstick shape if you can, but I found it easier to do during the next step. (My Brazilian friend later told me to brush some milk around the edges to make it seal.)
  6. Take a coxinha and dip it in the beaten egg and let the excess drip off. Then roll it in the breadcrumbs and set it on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining coxinhas. Refrigerate for an hour.
  7. Meanwhile, finish off the hot sauce.
  8. Pour the reserved hot sauce liquid into a food processor or a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Remove the cover and let the sauce rest.
  9. Deep fry the coxinhas in batches at 365°F/180C until golden brown, make sure to keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn, 3 to 4 minutes.
  10. Serve hot with the three dipping sauces.
Recipe by Keeper of the Kitchen at https://www.keeperofthekitchen.com/2014/02/25/brazilian-coxinha-and-three-dipping-sauces/