Bolinho de Aipim com Carne Seca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 4-liter pot for boiling cassava
• •Heavy 3-liter pot or Dutch oven for frying
• •Potato masher or sturdy fork
• •Slotted spoon or spider
• •Rimmed tray with a wire rack
• •Instant-read thermometer, optional but useful

Instructions

1. 1

   Check the carne seca

   Taste a shred of the cooked carne seca before it goes near the aipim. It should be salty in a friendly way, not like the sea got angry. If it is too salty, simmer it in fresh water for 10 minutes, drain, and taste again. Salt curing is useful, but if you don't tame it, the filling bullies the whole bolinho.

   Starting with traditional salted carne seca? Cut it into chunks and soak it 8 to 12 hours with two or three water changes, then cook until it shreds easily. Starting with already desalted carne seca is an honest Tuesday shortcut. You save time, but you give up some control over salt.
2. 2

   Cook the aipim

   Put the aipim in a wide pot, cover with cold water by two fingers, and add 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the pieces are tender enough for a knife to slide through with no fight, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain very well, pull out any woody cores you missed, and return the aipim to the hot empty pot for 2 minutes so extra moisture dries off. Wet aipim makes loose dough, and loose dough cracks in oil.

3. 3

   Mash the dough

   Mash the aipim while it is still warm, first with a masher, then with a sturdy spoon if you want it smoother. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then mix in the butter, egg yolk, and 3 tablespoons polvilho doce or flour. The dough should feel soft and moldable, like a warm clay that holds a ball. If it sticks badly to your hands, add 1 more tablespoon starch or flour. Don't keep adding and adding, or you trade aipim for paste and then everyone is sad.

4. 4

   Refogar the filling

   Warm 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it murcha, soft and see-through with a little gold at the edges, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute, just until you smell it, then stir in the shredded carne seca and black pepper. Let it cook until the meat sizzles and the pan looks dry, 3 to 5 minutes. Add a spoonful of cooking liquid only if the filling looks stiff, then stir in the herbs. Juicy is good. Wet is trouble, because wet filling pushes through the dough while it fries.

   No bouillon powder here. Carne seca, onion, garlic, and time in the pan are already flavor. A packet makes everything taste like the same packet.
5. 5

   Shape the bolinhos

   Lightly oil your hands. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of aipim dough and flatten it into a small disk in your palm. Put 1 heaping teaspoon filling in the center, close the dough around it, pinch the seam, and roll into a ball or short oval. If a crack appears, patch it with a little dough and smooth it with damp fingers. Exposed strands of carne seca burn before the dough finishes, so keep the filling tucked inside.

6. 6

   Bread and chill

   Set up three shallow dishes: flour or polvilho doce, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs. Roll each bolinho lightly in flour, shake off the excess, dip in egg, then roll in breadcrumbs until covered. Put them on a tray and chill for 20 minutes. The rest firms the cassava and helps the crumb hold on, which means fewer split bolinhos and less mess in the oil.

7. 7

   Heat the oil

   Pour oil into a heavy pot to a depth of about 4 cm, keeping the pot no more than half full. Heat to 175°C (350°F), or test with a pinch of breadcrumb: it should bubble steadily and turn golden in about 45 seconds. Too cool and the bolinhos drink oil. Too hot and the outside darkens before the inside warms through.

8. 8

   Fry and serve

   Fry 5 or 6 bolinhos at a time, turning now and then, until evenly deep golden and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. Don't crowd the pot. Crowd it and the oil temperature drops, the coating gets heavy, and the dough starts looking for a way out. Drain on a rack or paper towels, let them sit 2 minutes so the center settles, and serve with lime wedges if you like.

Chef Tips

• •Buy aipim meant for boiling, the sweet cassava sold fresh or frozen. Fresh pieces should look white and clean inside, with no black streaks. Frozen peeled aipim is a good shortcut when a Tuesday is a Tuesday. You lose the pleasure of choosing each piece, but you save peeling and it cooks reliably.
• •Carne seca must be desalted before it becomes filling. The label or butcher should say dessalgada, desalted. If it only says carne seca, assume it needs soaking and cooking first, because one salty bite can ruin the whole tray.
• •Mash the cassava warm, not cold. Warm aipim breaks down smoothly. Cold aipim gets stubborn, lumpy, and dramatic, and I have already done that nonsense for both of us.
• •Keep the filling dry enough to mound on a spoon. If it slides around like sauce, cook it a little longer. A bolinho is a little package, not a bucket.
• •Use plain breadcrumbs, not a seasoned packet. If you have stale bread, toast it dry and grind it. That's not being fancy. That's using food instead of buying crumbs with a speech attached.
• •The oil test matters. A small breadcrumb should bubble steadily and brown in under a minute. If it sinks and sulks, wait. If it blackens fast, lower the heat. The oil tells you the truth if you listen.
• •Fried bolinhos are best the day they are made. Reheat leftovers in a hot oven until the crust comes back. The microwave softens the crust, and then you have warm regret.

Advance Preparation

• •If starting with salted carne seca, soak it 8 to 12 hours in plenty of water, changing the water two or three times, then cook until it shreds easily. Do this before the recipe clock starts.
• •The carne seca filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Let it come closer to room temperature before shaping so it doesn't stiffen the dough.
• •The bolinhos can be shaped and breaded 1 day ahead. Keep them covered in the fridge, then fry straight from cold.
• •To freeze, bread the raw bolinhos on a tray until firm, then bag them for up to 2 months. Fry from frozen in smaller batches at a slightly gentler heat, giving them an extra minute or two so the center warms through.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)