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Chicharrones de harina
Puffed wheat snacks
Duritos: puffed wheat-flour wheels with lime and hot sauce, a Mexican school-gate snack
Outside Mexican schools and parks, vendors fry little dried wheels and rectangles of wheat dough until they balloon into airy, crackly chicharrones de harina, also called duritos. They're handed over in a plastic bag drenched in lime juice and bottled hot sauce. At home you can buy the dried pellets (duros) at Latin grocers, and they puff in seconds. Chef's tip: fry just a small handful at a time; they triple in size.
- Total time
- 12 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the snack
- 5 ½ oz dried wheat pellets (duros)
- 3 ¼ cups sunflower oil for frying
- ½ tsp fine salt
To serve
- 2 limesin wedges
- 4 tbsp Mexican-style hot sauce (optional)
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Heat the 3 ¼ cups sunflower oil for frying in a deep, heavy pan to 375°F; it should be no more than a third full. A pellet dropped in should puff within 10 seconds.
8 minStep 2: Fry a small handful of 5 ½ oz dried wheat pellets (duros) for 10–20 seconds, turning, until fully puffed and pale. Oil that isn't hot enough is the common mistake: the pellets stay hard and soak up grease.
5 minStep 3: Lift out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and sprinkle with ½ tsp fine salt. Repeat with the rest.
3 minStep 4: Serve with 2 limes to squeeze over and 4 tbsp Mexican-style hot sauce on the side, so younger children can go without.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 26 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does chicharrones de harina take?
- About 12 minutes in total: 2 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of limes?
- Lemon, same amount.
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