Looking for a Portuguese recipe

[Aparecium]

These Pão de Queijo are so good - and they're made with non-gluten ingredients! Given that they contain Cassava starch, I'm guessing that they are more Brazilian than Portuguese. Is there a recipe for making them at home?

Google has a lot of recipes.

If you don’t want to interact with other posters you don’t have to, you can google. I do want to interact with other posters, and maybe even discuss recipes.

Most of us have to interact with Google to understand what on earth these are.

Fair enough, so would I. I hope that a Portuguese MNer, or maybe a knowledgeable baking MNer, might be able to guide me with their expertise, rather than me wade through translations and a million variants to guess at a similar version.

Ok so it’s a cheesbread that’s a bit like a US muffin? Most recipes seem to use tapioca flour.

I haven't had these, but o am wondering if there's a linguistic link to pso/bao - steamed rice buns I had in Malaysia and my local Chinese takeaway does.

Pao, not pso.

These don't look like they were baked in cases. They are little free-standing buns.

I think cassava starch is the same as tapioca flour?

Pão de queijo is Brazil’s gold🤤. It’s made with polvilho doce (cassava flour) and you can find it in Brazilian cafes and shops in the uk, maybe even Amazon. However I find the recipe rather tricky and usually buy the ready made bread mix instead as you just need to add water and eggs. Brazilian shops will have it or on Amazon x https://amzn.eu/d/0hzCieAQ

Thanks! Never occurred to me to look for a ready mix on Amazon.

What’s tricky about the recipe?

@Aparecium I am due to speak to a friend in Lisbon later, I'll ask her.

Tapioca is made from cassava so that will make it easier to find ingredients.

It’s a Brazilian recipe rather than Portuguese, the Yoki packet mix is good and easy. It’s not that tricky to make from scratch, you can get polvilho azedo on Amazon. I have a really good recipe - have made it several times and given it to other people who were also successful

PAO DE QUEIJO

1 lb (450 - 500 g) Polvilho azedo (Sour or fermented Tapioca/Cassava flour)
1 cup (240 mL) whole milk
1 cup (240 mL) filtered water
3 medium eggs beaten
1 tsp (5 mL) common salt
1/2-cup (120 mL) cooking oil
6-8 oz Parmesan cheese (grated)

1. Mix milk, water, oil, and salt well in a large metallic container.
2. Bring it to boil. Turn off heat.
3. Mix polvilho well with a wooden spoon/spatula. Let it cool so you can knead.
4. Add beaten eggs and knead until smooth. It'll be too sticky. Have patience.
5. Gradually mix cheese until the dough stops sticking in your hand. Knead well.
6. Make 1-inch balls and place them on a baking pan with some space between them for expansion.
7. Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and put the pan on the bottom rack.
8. Let it cook for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the ball until slightly brown.

I’ve managed to get the cassava flour in Chinese supermarkets before.

These look lovely, Im always looking for more things to eat, erm I mean cook.

Can’t remember what recipe I used (was a blog type site rather than a book, poss based in the US… sorry not that helpful!) but made these a while ago - just came here to say that they were surprisingly easy and I used tapioca flour (in a pot like bicarb, from Ocado)

Omg! I love these things, I could eat a hundred.
My ex is Brazilian and I did make them when I was with him but haven't for a long time so I can't remember what recipe I used. I didn't use cassava flour though, I'm pretty sure I used tapioca flour that I got from a local deli.

There is a FB page called Brazilian kitchen abroad that I used to get recipes from. There's probably a good recipe on there.

I need to try and make some now!

Brilliant! Thanls 😋

I found the Yoki mix on Amazon UK, and also another make, Maria Bonita, which I like the sound of better as it has fewer ingredients.

Yw! Now I want to make some but will have to wait for Amazon where I live!

I’ve got tapioca flour at home. Is the difference between tapioca flour and fermented tapioca flour significant?

I wasn’t sure what the difference was as I’ve always used polvilho azedo or the packet mix so I googled and apparently the structure of the baked balls will be different and not as puffy.

“Why it matters for pão de queijo:

The fermented polvilho azedo is what gives pão de queijo its signature big, airy puff and chewy-crisp shell. The fermentation process changes the starch’s gelatinization properties, letting it trap steam and expand dramatically in the oven — that’s where the characteristic hollow, bubbly interior comes from.

If you use plain tapioca flour (or polvilho doce) instead, the rolls will still taste good and be cheesy, but they’ll come out denser, flatter, and won’t puff up the same way. “

(AI summary)

F

Lidl have frozen pão de queijo (De Marchi brand) at the moment as part of Latin American week.