Tequeños – Venezuelan Cheese Sticks in Dough
Tequeños are Venezuela's party snack: sticks of cheese wound in a spiral of thin dough and deep-fried until golden, with the cheese melting inside.
The whole technique is in the wrapping: each turn has to overlap the previous one by half. Leave a gap anywhere and the melting cheese finds it and runs out into the oil. For the cheese, use firm block mozzarella, well drained, or a dry white cheese — the drier it is, the better the dough grips.
Ingredients
- 500 g all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 100 g butter, at room temperature (soft)
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp fine salt
- 120 ml lukewarm water (about 1/2 cup)
- 500 g firm white cheese or block mozzarella
- Neutral oil (sunflower or corn), as needed, for deep-frying
Method
- 1
The base dough: put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the soft butter, the egg and the tablespoon of fine salt. Start bringing it together with your fingers, from the centre outwards.
- 2
Hydrating and kneading: add the lukewarm water a little at a time, working it in until you have a rough dough. Turn it onto the worktop and knead energetically for 5 to 7 minutes, until it is smooth, soft and elastic. Cover it with a clean tea towel and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- 3
Cutting the cheese: while the dough rests, cut the block of cheese into even sticks about 1 cm square and 5 or 6 cm long. Pat them dry with kitchen paper if they are at all wet.
- 4
Rolling and cutting: take the rested dough and roll it out on a lightly floured worktop to a thin 2 mm. With a pastry wheel or a very sharp knife, cut long strips 2 cm wide.
- 5
The sealed wrap: take a stick of cheese and a strip of dough. Start by covering one end of the cheese and carry on winding diagonally along the stick, making sure each turn of dough overlaps half of the previous one so no gaps are left. Finish by sealing the other end well. Roll the tequeño gently between your hands on the worktop to fix the seam.
- 6
Frying: heat plenty of neutral oil in a deep pan to a medium 170-180 °C. Fry the tequeños in small batches for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them carefully until they are perfectly golden all over. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Serve hot, while the cheese is still molten.