"Brazil's most consumed savoury snack, a teardrop of chicken and cream cheese inside fried potato-wheat dough, is sold at every padaria in São Paulo from morning to midnight."
About Coxinha
São Paulo's beloved teardrop: shredded chicken and cream cheese moulded into a drumstick shape, coated in a wheat-and-potato dough, breaded and deep-fried to a copper-gold crust; the name means 'little thigh'; sold at every padaria and lanchonete; Brazil's most consumed savoury snack.
Coxinha, a staple of Brazil's cuisine
The Teardrop
The coxinha is Brazil's most recognisable savoury snack, a teardrop croquette of wheat-and-potato dough moulded around shredded chicken, then breaded and deep-fried to a copper crust. The name means little thigh, and the shape is meant to evoke a chicken drumstick. In Sao Paulo there are padarias that exist largely to sell coxinhas, and they are always busy.
The Filling
The chicken is seasoned with onion, garlic and herbs and, in the best versions, bound with catupiry, a mild, spreadable Brazilian cheese. The crust should shatter at the first bite while the interior stays soft and slightly stretchy from the cheese. A coxinha that has sat in a warmer for hours, with a softened crust, is a different and lesser thing.
The Dough and the Fry
What gives the coxinha its body is a cooked dough of wheat flour and mashed potato, enriched with the broth used to poach the chicken. The dough is shaped by hand around the filling, rolled in crumbs and fried until deep gold. Getting the dough thin and even, so it crisps without turning heavy, is the mark of a good padaria.
A Democratic Snack
The coxinha is Sao Paulo street food at its most egalitarian, eaten by everyone regardless of age or income, at breakfast, lunch or midnight. It belongs to the bakery counter and the bar snack tray rather than the restaurant. Less aspirational than essential, it is one of the foods that holds the city together.
What to Expect
At a good São Paulo padaria the coxinha is warm and freshly fried, the crust still crackling. The coxinha is held by the thin end like a drumstick and a bite is taken into the wide base. The dough shatters and the chicken and catupiry inside is soft and stretchy. Diners eat it standing at the counter and order another.
Why Try It
The coxinha is São Paulo street food at its most democratic, eaten by every Brazilian regardless of age or income, at breakfast or lunch or as a midnight snack. It's not aspirational food; it's the food that holds the city together.
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Insider Tips
Eat only freshly fried coxinhas, never ones that have been sitting under a heat lamp.
The version with catupiry (the mild Brazilian cream cheese) is the best. Order 'com catupiry'.
Bar do Juarez in Vila Madalena, São Paulo is a reliable and popular address.
