Bolinha de Queijo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 3-liter pot for cooking dough
• •Wooden spoon
• •Shallow bowls for breading
• •Heavy pot for frying
• •Thermometer or slotted spoon
• •Wire rack or paper-lined tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the liquid

   Put the milk, water, butter, and salt in a heavy pot over medium heat. Bring it to a lively simmer, with the butter fully melted and little bubbles around the edge. This is the liquid that seasons and hydrates the flour, so don't swap it for a seasoning cube. A cube is a packet pretending to be dinner.

2. 2

   Cook the dough

   Add all the flour at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon. The mixture will look lumpy for a minute, then come together into one thick dough that pulls away from the bottom and sides of the pot, about 3 to 4 minutes. Keep stirring until a thin film forms on the bottom. That cooking is what removes the raw flour taste and gives the dough strength to hold the cheese.

   If the dough smears and sticks like paste, keep cooking. If it gathers into a ball and leaves the pan mostly clean, it has pegado ponto.
3. 3

   Cool and knead

   Move the dough to a clean plate or counter and let it cool until warm, not hot, about 15 minutes. Knead it for 2 minutes with lightly oiled hands until smooth. Hot dough melts the cheese before frying, and rough dough cracks when it hits the oil. We are preventing drama, not performing it.

4. 4

   Fill the balls

   Pinch off 1 tablespoon of dough and flatten it into a small disk. Put one cube of muçarela in the center, pull the dough around it, and roll between your palms until smooth and fully sealed. Check for cracks. If you see cheese, cover it. Exposed cheese escapes into the oil, and then everyone acts surprised.

5. 5

   Bread them

   Beat the eggs with 2 tablespoons milk or water in a shallow bowl. Put the breadcrumbs in another bowl. Dip each ball in the egg, let the excess drip off, then roll in crumbs until covered. The egg is the glue and the crumbs are the crust, so coat evenly. Bare spots fry pale and weak.

6. 6

   Heat the oil

   Pour the oil into a heavy pot so it sits at least 2 inches deep. Heat to 175°C (350°F), or test with a breadcrumb: it should bubble right away and turn golden slowly, not burn in five seconds. Oil that's too cool makes greasy bolinhas. Oil that's too hot browns the outside before the cheese melts.

7. 7

   Fry in batches

   Fry 6 to 8 balls at a time, turning gently, until evenly golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Don't crowd the pot. Too many at once drops the oil temperature, and then the crust drinks oil instead of crisping. Move them to a rack or paper-lined plate and wait 2 minutes before eating, because melted cheese has no manners.

Chef Tips

• •Use low-moisture muçarela, the kind sold in a block, not fresh watery cheese. Too much moisture turns into leaking and sputtering in the oil, and then you blame your hands instead of the cheese.
• •No powdered broth, no seasoning packet. If you want more flavor in the dough, replace the water with homemade chicken or vegetable broth. Honest shortcut: good homemade broth from the freezer is welcome. Powder is not.
• •Keep the cheese cubes small, about 1/2 inch. Big cubes sound generous, but they make the dough hard to seal and more likely to burst.
• •Fine dry breadcrumbs give the cleanest party-salgado crust. If yours are coarse, pulse them a little finer so they cover the dough evenly.
• •Freeze them raw after breading. Fry straight from frozen at 175°C (350°F), adding 1 to 2 minutes. Don't thaw, because thawing softens the crust and invites leaks.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be cooked up to 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly and refrigerate, then let it sit 20 minutes at room temperature before shaping.
• •Breaded raw bolinhas can be frozen on a tray until firm, then bagged for up to 2 months.
• •Fry from frozen at 175°C (350°F), adding 1 to 2 minutes, and keep the batches small so the oil temperature stays steady.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 35g)