Soak the halloumi in water for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours to remove the salty taste. I love the salty taste of halloumi, so I prefer not to soak it. However, if you find the kind you have to be too salty, the soak will help alleviate that. Allow the halloumi cheese to grill without touching it.
Simply patting the haloumi dry with paper towel will remove some of the saltiness, but you can also place it in a bowl of cold water to remove more of the salt, if you prefer. Just soak for 5 minutes, then pat dry with paper towel – patting dry is important to ensure the lovely golden crispy edges!
Soaking, especially as here, with some lemon juice, leaches out halloumi's preserving salt, and also softens the cheese nicely. The result is that you'll taste and smell the farmy sweetness of the milk in the finished dish.
- don't overcook the halloumi - a couple of minutes on each side is all it needs! You still want it to be soft, not totally crispy. - eat the halloumi within 5 minutes or so of cooking it - if you leave it to cool, it will become a little more rubbery.
To extend it's life further, make a simple salt brine by mixing 2 cups of water with 2 teaspoons of salt. Mix together until the salt dissolves, then pour over leftover halloumi in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Halloumi should be soaked for a minimum of 3 hours maximum 6 hours. Cut each block into 8 slices. Give each cheese slice a light coating of olive oil. Place halloumi in hot frying pan and cook until browned on both sides, turning only once halfway.
Soak the halloumi in water for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours to remove the salty taste. I love the salty taste of halloumi, so I prefer not to soak it. However, if you find the kind you have to be too salty, the soak will help alleviate that. Allow the halloumi cheese to grill without touching it.
If you are wanting to store your Halloumi over a longer period, you need to store it in a brine solution that will raise the salt content, normally applied to Halloumi. For longer storage in the fridge, pack your Halloumi in jars and pour over a 8-10% brine solution.
An unopened packet of halloumi will keep in the fridge for up to a year. Once opened store in salt water in the fridge.
Originating from Cyprus, halloumi is a semi-hard, un-ripened, brined cheese that can be made from cow, sheep or goat's milk. It can be eaten raw but is truly delicious cooked, having a high melting point, makes it an excellent choice for grilling or frying.
Cut the cheese into 1-cm (1/2-inch) thick slices. Place the slices in a bowl and cover with cold water. This cheese is very salty. It is better to desalinate it for a few hours in the refrigerator, as needed.
Feta is Greek brined curd white cheese made from sheep, goat, or cow's milk. Sometimes it can be a combination of two types of milk! Feta cheese is saltier than halloumi but holds its shape well when frying at high heat. Feta is crumbly and can be a good substitute for halloumi in salads.
Being a brined cheese, halloumi has a very high salt content, therefore it's very salty when eaten raw. However, it is possible to eat it raw, but the chargrilling of the cheese helps to tone down the saltiness and gives a really complex smoky flavour. Because of its high salt content, halloumi doesn't need seasoning.
Cut halloumi into rectangular shapes and thread onto skewers. Mix coriander, sumac, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and half the chilli in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Brush spice mix over the skewers.
You don't need to add oil when cooking halloumi as it has quite a high fat content. Cut the halloumi into 1cm thick slices and dry fry in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Cook halloumi for 1-2 mins. When it starts to brown and crisp up turn the pieces over and cook on the other side for another minute or two.
Halloumi is also unique in having a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled. It is the high pH (low acid) of the cheese that causes this non-melting characteristic.
It's also important not to overcook it. Just 2 to 3 minutes on each side on a medium to high heat is all you need. Wait until just after the juices have evaporated, allow the halloumi to start to go golden brown, then flip onto the other side. Finally, it's best to eat it immediately after cooking.
The next day, the cheese blocks are packed in vacuum plastic bags and displayed under refrig- eration (5–8°C). The shelf-life of Halloumi cheese as stated by different regional producers ranges between 4 and 6 months under refrigeration.
Squeaking against the teeth is a characteristic of halloumi's texture. The reason why lies in the fact that it contains a large amount of the milk protein casein in its intact form, which creates a dense network.
During the cheesemaking process, rennet is added to the warm milk. This causes the milk to coagulate and form clumps or strands of proteins. This is what gives halloumi its characteristic rubbery texture.
The primary reason for salting cheese, is to slow down, or stop, the bacteria process converting lactose to lactic acid. During the brining process, most of the lactose is removed.
Halloumi will keep in the refrigerator for as long as a year, if it's unopened. Once opened, store it in the refrigerator in salt water in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Or wrap it tightly in waxed paper, parchment paper or cheese wrap.
All you need to do to is take your cheese out of the fridge about an hour before you plan on serving it or using it. Though it's unlikely you'll face food safety issues if you leave cheese at room temperature for too long, for best quality, you should return it to the fridge after about two hours.
Halloumi cheese
Halloumi is typically grilled, but can also be fried, and is made from cow's milk. This cheese is included on the menu of almost every Greek restaurant, so very accessible! It is a great appetizer and goes well with a typical Greek salad.