Make sure your Queso Blanco is "Listo para Freir"

I was born and raised in a Latin Country, the Caribbean to be more specific, and I grew up eating queso blanco in different varieties. I am from the Dominican Republic and it was normal for us to have fried queso blanco with plantains, yuca, rice and beans, soup, pizza, etc. Now, the trick is that there are hundreds of varieties for queso blanco and the one that is made to be fried reads "Listo Para Freir" - Ready to Fry. It means that the cheese is specially made for that purpose due to the fact that if you fry a regular white cheese you might ended up with a smaller piece as the top part starts to get stuck in the pan and burning really fast. Now, the white cheese ready to fry will keep frying in the top without getting stuck in the pan, protecting the inside cheese that starts getting soft and chewey. It is easier to make and faster.  I live in Miami and we have these kind of cheese in every corner. I just bought a 2Lbs 5 ozs piece for 14.99!

In the other hand, I also ate a lot of Queso de Hojas, which means, Cheese in leaves. That is, it is also a white cheese that you "peel" like you peel an orange and the pieces are thin and delicious.. That one you do not fry, but the taste is so good, soft, and very easy to eat and digest. I usually find the cheese in dominican stores as they do not sell it around Miami unless it is a dominican place. Anyways, I just thought I should put my 2 cents with this topic. I just had two big pieces and I am ready now for another one.

Sounds lush but I think it will be very hard to find over here

I have yet to locate anything labeled "Queso Blanco" around here. There's lots of white cheese in the Mexican section of our grocery store, but it's either labeled "Queso Fresco" or just "queso". I bought some of that yesterday figuring, it's queso, and it's blanco, so I'm frying it up! LOL I'll let y'all know how that goes.

So how is "Queso Fresco" generally used?

When I can't get queso blanco, I eat queso fresco fried and it's tasty too.  Different texture but good.  I actually found queso blanco at my local Arab market.  They have a large Mexican staff and patrons, and Arab people also eat fresh cheeses like queso fresco.

I'm still looking for it in Indy. Walmart had some Queso Blanco para fundir, and it definitely lived up to its name becauase all it did was melt in the pan when I tried to fry it (para fundir=for melting).

Queso Fresco is to use for any purpose as it is fresh cheese. No for frying, but salads, sandwiches, and other uses. It is good though

Sam's had some queso panela, and it fries up great! Kinda salty, but yummy, it does taste like a grilled cheese sandwich.

Joyce

Thanks for the tip - I live three miles from Mexico, and the variety is so great here I have no idea what I'm buying.  LOL - I have had fun experimenting, but I don't think I've bought Listo Para Freir yet.  I just have to keep looking :)

Queso Panela is probably the closest to Queso Blanco for frying that one might find......my family loves queso panela as well as they do queso blanco.  My ex is hispanic and often treated the kids with fried queso blanco often.....it is delicious.  Queso Fresco is a little different as it is a fresh cheese that is soft and crumbly while queso panela and queso fresco are harder cheeses.  There have been a few posts with a couple recipes for queso blanco posted in the last few weeks.....it is VERY easy to make as well.....

After reading about the wonderful Queso Blanco, I started my search here in Columbus, Ohio.  I went to Meijer and found Queso Blanco Panella, however, I tried frying it and just didn't care for the taste and actually threw the rest of it away.

Then I went to Sam's Club and found Queso Fresco (they didn't have Blanco).  But before having a chance to try it, I found Queso Blanco at Whole Foods.  I fried it and thought I had died and gone to heaven.  Once that was gone, I tried the Queso Fresco, and it was good, but for some reason, not quite as good as the Queso Blanco. (but I won't throw it away).

I have now gone back to Whole Foods and bought 6 blocks of it (it was on sale for $3.99 for about 8 oz.).

I then went to Giant Eagle for a few items and found the same exact brand and amount of Queso Blanco there for $8.99.  Yikes!  I'm glad I stocked up at Whole Foods.

I can't tell you how decadent it feels to fry the Queso Blanco in butter and then enjoy it so much!

I'm so thankful for this site and the wonderful suggestions and support we get here!