This is intended as a basic tutorial to take the complete novice through the process of making a chupaqueso. There are a few spots where, if you’re not careful, you’ll end up with a varyingly edible blob of fried cheese that isn’t a chupaqueso. I hope to take you past those pitfalls and to the land of fried cheesy goodness.
Supplies
You’ll need two basic components to make a chupaqueso:
- Cheese for the shell.
- Stuff to put inside the shell.
You’ll also need two basic tools:
- Something to cook the chupaqueso on.
- Something to turn the chupaqueso over besides your fingers.
This picture shows a collection of several different types of shell and stuffing, and the pan and turner I use. The pan is a garden variety Teflon coated large aluminum skillet; the turner is nylon, I think. I’m not entirely happy with it, but it works.
The jars and can on the lower right are stuffings: sliced jalapenos, sliced mushrooms, and sliced olives. (See a pattern here?)
The cheeses bear a closer look.
The two in the back are basic Kraft shredded cheeses, two cups to the package. Kraft cheeses are not known for being all that flavorful, but for the shell, that’s not a problem, since the flavor is pretty much cooked out of it, leaving just a gentle toastiness. The two in the front are a bit more flavorful, and will be used for the filling.
I use pre-shredded cheeses because I’m lazy. If you’re the energetic sort, or like cheese that you have to shred, go right ahead and do it yourself. You’ll need about a cup for the shell, and a half cup or so for the filling.
The first chupaqueso: Mozzarella shell, bacon and jalapeno filling
I’ll start with a mozzarella shell and use the Mexican cheese, bacon, and jalapenos for filling. The mozzarella shell is a bit easier to deal with, because it doesn’t turn greasy when you fry it, but it shrinks a bit in cooking.
Note that all of the ingredients are ready to hand. At the end of the process, you won’t have time to be running back and forth to the refrigerator. Get it all out and opened now. If, as with the jalapenos, the ingredients are packed in water or something similar, go ahead and put them on a paper towel to drain.
To start, I’ll sprinkle a handful of mozzarella onto the bottom of the skillet. This is slightly less than one cup. As you’ll see further down, this is somewhat less than is actually needed, so the result will come out a bit small. You’ll need to experiment a bit - especially since your hands are probably bigger than mine. Set the burner to full high heat.
Sprinkle it evenly in a circle. Don’t worry too much about holes or making the edges nice and neat. The melting cheese will take care of that for you. The cheese has just begun to melt in this picture.
After a few minutes, all of the cheese has melted and is bubbling nicely. Notice how the big gap in the previous picture has filled in.
This is the point where you need to start slipping your turner under the edges to detach the shell from the pan. The idea is to do it as soon as it holds together enough to flip. You can tell by watching as you pick up the edges with the corner of your turner. It will form a lip that doesn’t melt away immediately when it’s ready to turn.
Here, I’ve slipped the turner under the shell and am getting ready to flip it.
…and it’s flipped over, toasting the previously top side. You don’t need to do this for very long, or at all with a mozzarella shell, bit I prefer it this way because that keeps the filler cheese from mingling with the shell cheese.
After a little bit (just a small number of seconds), flip it back over.
This is the point at which speed is essential. From here on, the shell will only get harder, and if it gets too hard, you won’t be able to fold it over.
I’ve added about a half cup of the Mexican filler cheese (a small handful), bacon on top of that, and jalapenos on top of that. The filler doesn’t need to cover the entire shell; just sprinkle it in a row down the middle. You’ll fold the sides on top of that.
…as in this picture. Here’s where the small shell makes its presence felt. It was hard to fold over because there wasn’t much to fold.
Note: You’ll be tempted in this situation to use your fingers to help. Be careful! The shell is pure cheese, which has very little water content. Since there’s no water to moderate the temperature, it can and will get hotter than the boiling point of water! You can easily burn yourself!
The finished chupaqueso is laid out on a plate, ready to enjoy.
The second chupaqueso: Cheddar shell, pizza-style filler
I wasn’t entirely happy with the last one, so I decided to make another. Besides, I didn’t get to eat that one (my roommate did).
This one will have a cheddar shell and pizza-style fillings: Kraft pizza cheese mix, pepperoni, mushrooms, and olives. As you’ll see, the cheddar will cook a bit differently from the mozzarella.
Once again, a handful of cheese. I added a bit more after this handful to make sure the shell wouldn’t be too small.
Notice that the cheese has already started to melt. This was taken just a few seconds after spreading the cheese in the skillet; it was still hot from the previous chupaqueso, so it started melting almost immediately.
A few minutes later, it’s bubbling nicely. Notice the smaller bubbles and the grease on top. Unlike a mozzarella shell, you will definitely need to toast the other side of a cheddar shell so the grease on top gets moved to the bottom, and thus outside the finished chupaqueso instead of the inside of it.
I’m picking up the edge of the shell, as mentioned in the previous series of pictures. As you can see, the lip is forming nicely. This shell is ready to turn.
…so I’ll slip the turner under it quickly. Not quickly enough, unfortunately, as it’s wrinkled a bit.
Again, I’ll toast the top side of the shell for a moment. I’ve patted it down a bit with the turner to try to remove the wrinkles, and was only partially successful.
I’ve flipped it back on the other side. All of the grease is on the bottom now, and it’s ready to fill.
First, a handful (again, about a half cup) of filler cheese.
The pepperoni, mushrooms, and olives come next.
Finally, the sides are folded over the top. This is what Howard means by the “tri-fold”.
The finished product, ready to eat. It was satisfyingly pizza-tasting, though a bit of pizza sauce on top before folding would have made it even more so.
This page was last updated on January 13, 2006 at 3:45 am.