Brazilian Coxinha with Teardrop Chicken Croquettes, Catupiry Cream Cheese Center and Crispy Cassava Crumb

Poach the chicken: place chicken thighs, onion halves, smashed garlic, bay leaf and parsley in a saucepan with the cold water. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat and cook for 22-25 minutes, never letting the water boil hard — gentle poaching keeps the meat tender. Lift out the chicken with tongs and let it rest. Strain and reserve the broth — you will need exactly 450ml for the masa.

Ingredients

• For the chicken filling:
• 500g (1.1 lbs) boneless chicken thighs (skin off)
• 1 small yellow onion, halved
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1.2 litres (5 cups) cold water
• Salt and pepper
• For the filling sofrito:
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 small yellow onion, very finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 small ripe tomato, seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric (for the warm gold color Brazilians prize)
• 150g (5 oz) Catupiry cheese — substitute Boursin or whipped cream cheese mixed with 1 tbsp Parmesan
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
• Salt, black pepper and a few drops of malagueta hot sauce
• For the masa (coxinha dough):
• 450ml (2 cups) reserved chicken poaching broth
• 60ml (1/4 cup) whole milk
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 250g (1.75 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• For breading:
• 100g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour, in a shallow bowl
• 3 large eggs, beaten with 2 tbsp milk
• 200g (2 cups) panko breadcrumbs mixed with 80g (1/2 cup) finely ground toasted cassava flour (farofa pronta) — substitute fine cornmeal if cassava is unavailable
• For frying:
• Neutral oil for deep frying, enough to fill a heavy pot 8cm deep
• For serving:
• Lime wedges
• Brazilian molho de pimenta (malagueta chili-vinegar sauce)
• Caipirinha or icy Antarctica Guaraná

Instructions

1. Poach the chicken: place chicken thighs, onion halves, smashed garlic, bay leaf and parsley in a saucepan with the cold water. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat and cook for 22-25 minutes, never letting the water boil hard — gentle poaching keeps the meat tender. Lift out the chicken with tongs and let it rest. Strain and reserve the broth — you will need exactly 450ml for the masa.
2. Shred the chicken: when cool enough to handle, shred the chicken by hand into very fine threads. Pull along the grain, then chop across the grain a few times — the shreds should be small enough that no piece is longer than 1.5 cm. This fine shred is what makes a coxinha pipeable and tender.
3. Build the filling: heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and a pinch of salt and cook 6 minutes until translucent. Add minced garlic, tomato paste, paprika and turmeric and toast for 60 seconds. Add diced tomato and cook 3 more minutes until jammy. Tip in the shredded chicken, stir to coat in the sofrito, and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Fold in the Catupiry cheese, parsley and chives. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. The filling should be moist, slightly creamy and intensely seasoned. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to firm up.
4. Make the masa: combine the reserved chicken broth, milk, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a hard rolling boil. With the heat still on high, dump in all the flour and cornstarch at once. Stir furiously with a sturdy wooden spoon for 3-4 minutes — the dough will go from lumpy and wet to a smooth, elastic, ball-shaped mass that pulls cleanly from the sides of the pan. This is the choux-like step that separates Brazilian coxinha from every other croquette in the world.
5. Knead the masa: tip the hot dough onto a clean cool work surface. Wait 2 minutes so you can handle it. Then knead vigorously for 5 full minutes — Brazilian grandmothers will tell you that under-kneading masa is the cardinal sin. The dough should become silky, supple and slightly shiny, with the elasticity of fresh pasta. Wrap in cling film while still warm and let rest 20 minutes.
6. Shape the teardrops: divide the warm masa into 18 equal portions (about 50g each). Working one at a time, flatten a portion in your palm into a 9cm disc. Spoon 1.5 tablespoons of chicken filling into the center, with an extra small nugget of Catupiry tucked inside for the molten reveal. Bring the edges up around the filling and pinch closed. Roll between cupped palms into a smooth ball, then pinch one end into the iconic chicken-thigh-bone point. The finished coxinha should look exactly like a small chicken drumstick — this is non-negotiable.
7. Triple-bread: working two at a time, dredge each coxinha lightly in flour (shake off excess), dip in beaten egg-milk wash, then roll firmly in the panko-cassava crumb mixture. Press the crumb on with cupped hands. The triple-stage breading is what gives a great coxinha its trademark snap when bitten.
8. Chill before frying: arrange the breaded coxinhas on a tray and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours). Cold coxinhas hold their teardrop shape and develop the proper crackling crust in the oil.
9. Deep-fry: heat the frying oil to 175C (350F) — use a thermometer; temperature is everything. Fry the coxinhas in batches of 5-6 for 4-5 minutes, turning gently with a spider, until deeply golden and crisp on every side. Maintain oil temperature between batches. Drain on a wire rack, never paper towels (which steam the bottoms).
10. Serve immediately: pile the hot coxinhas on a wooden board lined with a banana leaf. Cut one in half to show off the creamy filling and the Catupiry pocket. Serve with lime wedges and malagueta hot sauce on the side. The first bite must be a crack of crust, a steam of warm chicken, and a slow pull of melted Catupiry. Eat with the fingers, holding the pointed end.
11. Coxinha (literally 'little thigh') was invented in São Paulo in the 1800s — the most widely told origin story holds that the recipe was developed by a palace cook for the youngest son of Princess Isabel of Brazil, who would only eat chicken thighs. When real thighs ran out one day, the cook shredded the chicken, wrapped it in dough, shaped it like a thigh and fried it — the prince loved them more than the originals. The teardrop shape is mandatory and is part of the cultural memory of the dish; a round or oval coxinha is dismissed in São Paulo as a 'bolinho.' Catupiry cheese, the iconic creamy filling, was created by Italian-Brazilian cheesemaker Mario Silvestrini in Lambari, Minas Gerais in 1911 — it has been bound to coxinha so closely for over a century that many Brazilians do not consider a coxinha legitimate without it. Today Brazil consumes an estimated 36 million coxinhas every weekend and they are the unrivaled queen of the salgadinho tray at every bar, party and birthday in the country.