It’s “koh-sheen-yahs”

RECIPE:   BRAZILIAN MINI CHICKEN COXINHAS

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What would Thanksgiving look like outside the United States? In France, you might have cailles aux raisins or cannette à l’orange instead of Turkey, marrons d’Ardèche for stuffing, a gratin dauphinois on the side, and a bottle of red Burgundy wine to seal the deal. In Brazil, you could spend days slow-cooking a sumptuous feijoada with your meat of choice or vegetarian, plenty of couve (green cabbage) and rice to absorb the juices, ridiculously icy cold beer to refresh from the summer heat, and a unanimously loved appetizer called coxinha (pronouced koh-sheen-yah).

Meaning “little thigh”, it’s a pear-shaped breaded nugget that can be eaten on the street or made at home, for parties, for barbecues, for anytime. For that hour watching the tide as you wait for your ferry to arrive and take you to Ilha Grande, off the coast of Rio. For that dusty bus stop on the way to the verdant canyons of Chapada Diamantina after leaving Salvador and passing through the desert backlands of Bahia. For an after-school snack you buy from the street vendor in your neighborhood in São Paulo. Even for breakfast when you’re a snobby French person who thinks the bread served by her in-laws is not real bread.

The recipe below is for mini coxinhas, although they can be made larger if so desired. My favorite kind is coxinha de frango (chicken), but you also find vegetarian ones, just with cheese (ideally catupiry) or any other filling you can think of. Like pulled pork!! So whether you’re preparing a meal for dozens of people or just want to have something to snack on at home, you will not be disappointed.

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Brazilian chicken coxinhas — coxinhas de frango |
for about 23 mini coxinhas

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Note: you can make these coxinhas ahead of time and simply reheat them in a 160°C oven before serving. You can cover with foil while reheating to make sure they don’t get more color.

Also, eat them with hot sauce! ALSO, this recipe is great to use turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving…

The filling:

• 1-2 chicken thighs, depending on size (you should have 150g of boneless meat)
• 350ml chicken stock
• 1 small onion, peeled & chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped 
• 1 spring onion (including the green part), peeled and sliced all the way
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• fresh parsley, chopped
• fleur de sel & black pepper

The dough:

• 125ml of the chicken stock you used to poach the chicken
• 125ml milk
• 20g butter, diced
• 150g plain flour

1. In a pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Poach the chicken thigh for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Make sure to keep the stock as you’ll need it to make the dough.
2. In a pan, heat up some olive oil and add the chopped onion, spring onion & garlic. Fry until soft and lightly colored. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
3. Make the dough: once the chicken is done poaching, take it out and keep 125ml of the stock. In the same pot, add 125ml of milk and the diced butter. Heat up on low-heat until the butter is entirely melted, then bring to a boil. Off the heat, add the flour at once & stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough starts forming a ball. Put it back on medium-heat for less than a minute until the dough starts sticking very slightly to the pan. Transfer to a plate to cool at once. 
4. Meanwhile, remove the bone from the chicken thigh to only keep the meat & slice it very thinly (it should look shredded). Add the chicken to the onions & garlic and pan-fry for a couple of minutes, adding some chicken stock if necessary to keep it slightly moist. Check the seasoning and add the chopped parsley.
5. Once the dough has cooled, on a clean and smooth surface, knead it and smooth it out for a few minutes until it becomes quite elastic. It shouldn’t be sticky and should be easy to manipulate. Divide into small balls, app. 20g each (the size of a large walnut). Flatten each ball into a disc, pressing in the middle to bring the sides slightly up.
6. Put a teaspoon of the chicken preparation on each disc and gradually bring the edges up, sealing them at the top in a pointy pear shape. They’re almost ready for frying!

Frying the coxinhas:

• 600ml frying oil
• 80ml milk
• 70g very fine breadcrumbs
• 1 egg

1. In a pot, heat up the frying oil until it is about 180ºC. If you don’t have a thermometer, try frying a small piece of dough to check the temperature. It should fizzle right away. Make sure your pot is deep enough so that the coxinhas can be plunged in oil all the way.
2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the milk & egg together, and prepare a plate or another bowl with the breadcrumbs. Roll each coxinha in the milk & egg, and transfer to the other bowl to evenly coat them in breadcrumbs.
3. When the oil has reached the right temperature, deep-fry the coxinhas (you can put 3-5 at a time depending on how large your pot is) for app. 2 min or until beautifully golden. When removing them, make sure they are properly strained to avoid any excess oil. Transfer to a plate or a baking sheet lined with paper towels to let drain a little, changing the paper towels after a while if necessary.

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