Venezuelans love to eat tequeos as a meal or snack. Essentially, these are white cheese sticks that have been wrapped in a dough that is crispy and slightly sweet. Additionally, Tequeos are fried like most delectable foods. They are a favorite party delicacy, breakfast item, and snack food back home. Without a dish of Tequeos, no event or gathering is complete.
In making tequeños, the first step was to make the shell. The exterior of my favorite tequeos is buttery, somewhat chewy, and slightly flaky. I took a lesson from my wife and treated this dough like a pie since she had made something similar with a batch of fried pies last summer. I began with flour, salt, and cold 1/4-inch butter pieces. When the butter was pulsed in a food processor, it broke down into tiny pieces coated in flour. This caused pockets of fat to form, which later led to the blistery appearance and mildly crumbly texture. Instead of simply combining the ingredients, I gently pressed the dough against the side of a bowl to bring it together in order to preserve those butter pieces. I also added egg and cold water. To keep the butter cold and let the dough firm up, I let the whole thing rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling.
Choice of Queso Used
I experimented with both queso de freir and queso blanco, which are quite similar. However, queso de freir has a texture that is finer and slightly denser and is designed specifically to withstand cooking in hot oil. Both worked well in the end, and while I liked the queso blanco’s more distinctive texture better, the smoother queso de freir produced a tequeo that was more reminiscent of what I used to have at restaurants. In the end, you are free to choose; both options are advantageous.
It was now just a matter of bringing the dough and cheese together. The dough was first flattened out into a square that was 1/8 inch thick; it was then cut into strips that were 3/4 inch wide and 12 inches long. I wrapped each strip of dough diagonally around the end of a cheese slice, ensuring that the layers overlapped just enough to form a good seal and be the correct thickness. My tequeo was born when I tightly squeezed the end shut.
It is important to note that when frying your tequeños dough, ensure to keep the temperature of the oil at 400°F (204°C). As a result, there won’t be even one cheesy breakout and the crust will be perfectly browned and the cheese will be pleasantly warmed but not quite melted.
Once the tequeños are ready, you can serve with salsa rosada, which is a mix of both ketchup and mayonnaise.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 6 tablespoons cold water, plus more as needed
- 350g queso blanco or queso de freir, cut into slices 1/2-inch x 1/2-inch x 2 1/2-inch
- Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
Directions
- Put the flour and salt in the food processor’s work-bowl and pulse a few times to mix. After uniformly distributing the butter over the flour, pulse eight times for one second, or until the butter is roughly the size of a pea. Put the dough in a big bowl.
- Pour in the egg and water. Press the dough against the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula until it forms a ball. If the dough does not fully form, add one tablespoon of water at a time until it does. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Put the dough on a lightly dusted surface after it has been removed from its packaging. Roll out into a 1-inch-thick square. To make a 12-inch square, cut off the edges. Slice the square into 3/4-inch-wide strips.
- Wrap one strip of dough around one cheese slice. Using overlapping dough, diagonally wrap the entire cheese slice with dough. Dough should be used to completely enclose the bottom of the cheese slice. Repeat with the remaining slices of cheese.
- Pour 3/4 inch of oil into a cast iron skillet. On a high heat setting, warm the oil to 400°F (204°C). Tequeos should be placed in oil and fried until the crust is golden brown and blistered, 3 to 5 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Tequeños are transferred to a platter lined with paper towels, allowed to cool for one to two minutes, and then served right away.