Filhoses de Natal (Traditional Portuguese Christmas Fritters)
- Prep
- 30 min
- Total
- 55 min
- pieces
- 20
- Calories
- 165 kcal
- Difficulty
- Medium
Filhoses are, with rabanadas and bolo-rei, the most emblematic sweet of the Portuguese Christmas Eve. Golden and full of crisp blisters outside, soft inside, they fill the house with the smell of orange, cinnamon and brandy. This recipe follows the classic village formula and makes about 20.
Recipe
Filhoses de Natal Tradicionais
Traditional Portuguese Christmas filhoses: a thin-stretched dough scented with orange juice and zest and brandy, which blisters light and crisp in the oil, rolled generously in cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
For the dough
For frying and coating
Method
Kneading and rising
- 1In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm orange juice with a coffee spoon of sugar and let it foam for 5 minutes.
- 2In a large bowl, put the sifted flour with the pinch of salt and the orange zest. Make a well in the middle.
- 3Add the beaten eggs, the warm melted butter, the brandy and the yeast mixture.
- 4Knead hard by hand for 10 to 15 minutes (or in a stand mixer with the dough hook), pulling and slapping the dough until it's soft, elastic and comes away from the bowl. If it's too sticky, oil your hands with a few drops of olive oil rather than adding lots of flour.
- 5Shape into a ball, cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let it rise somewhere warm and draft-free for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, until doubled.
Stretching and frying
- 6Heat the oil in a wide, deep pan to between 170 and 180 °C (a small piece of dough dropped in should rise straight to the surface, bubbling gently, without burning).
- 7Take pieces of dough the size of a walnut. With the counter and your fingertips oiled, stretch each one by hand or with a rolling pin until very thin and see-through in the middle, leaving the edge slightly thicker.
- 8Slide the filhó into the hot oil. The dough puffs and blisters golden in an instant.
- 9Fry for 1 to 2 minutes per side until golden and crisp. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
- 10While still warm, roll the filhoses in the cinnamon sugar and arrange them on a dish lined with a linen cloth.
Light, not greasy
The brandy isn’t optional: it evaporates the moment it hits the hot fat, pushing moisture out and keeping the oil out, so the dough stays crisp and dry.
Oil your hands instead of flouring the counter heavily: extra flour dries the dough and burns in the oil, making it bitter.
Keep the oil around 175 °C (350 °F). Too cool, the filhó soaks up fat before it cooks; smoking, it burns outside and stays raw inside.
Regional ways
In the Beira Baixa and Trás-os-Montes, filhoses de joelho were stretched over a cloth on the knee until nearly transparent in the middle. In parts of the center and south, they’re served with a light syrup of water, brown sugar, orange peel and cinnamon.
They keep for 3 to 4 days in a tin or a clay bowl loosely covered with a linen cloth; avoid airtight plastic, which softens the crust. To crisp them again, warm them at 150 °C (300 °F) for 3 to 4 minutes.
