Ka'i Ladrillo
Also: Kai ladrillo, Peanut brick, Maní brick
A dense, hard peanut brittle set into a brick shape, bound by caramelized sugar or molasses — Paraguay's iconic street confection.
Identity criteria
- 1Built almost entirely from peanuts (ka'i means monkey, ladrillo means brick)
- 2Bound by cooked sugar and/or molasses into a solid mass
- 3Set and cut into a rectangular brick form
- 4Dense and very hard, not airy or chewy
- 5Sold as a cheap, ubiquitous street and bus-vendor snack
Components
Peanuts (maní)essentialThe bulk of the brick; usually roasted
Caramelized sugaressentialCooked sugar that hardens to hold the peanuts
Molasses (miel negra) or honeyoptionalTraditional darkener and binder giving depth
SaltoptionalSometimes added to balance the sweetness
Technique
- Caramelizing the sugar
- Cooking sugar to the hard-crack stage is what sets the brittle into a rigid brick
- Setting in a mold/slab
- The mixture is pressed and cooled into the defining rectangular brick before cutting
- Roasting the peanuts
- Deepens the nutty flavor that dominates the confection
Form & serving
- Served
- Cut into rectangular bricks or bars, often wrapped
- Temperature
- Room temperature
- Portion
- One brick or bar
- Pairs with
- Mate · Tereré · Coffee
Character
Flavour
Texture
Very hard and dense, crunchy
Eaten
A cheap, beloved everyday sweet sold on Paraguayan streets and by vendors boarding intercity buses, eaten as a snack with mate or tereré.
When
year-round
Variations & related
Regional variations
- Molasses brick · Paraguay
Darker, deeper version bound mostly with miel negra
- Sugar brittle brick · Paraguay
Lighter, more golden version bound with white sugar caramel
Related dishes
- sibling Peanut brittle
The thin, glassy English-language relative of the same sugar-and-peanut family
- sibling Pé de moleque
The Brazilian peanut-molasses confection in the same tradition
Substitutions
White sugar → Molasses / panelaadmissible
Traditional darker binder; changes color and depth but keeps the brick
Peanuts → Puffed rice or other grainsinadmissible
Removes the defining peanut identity — becomes a different confection, not ka'i ladrillo
Common mistakes
- Undercooking the sugar so the brick stays soft instead of setting hard
- Skimping on peanuts so it becomes mostly candy rather than a peanut brick
- Burning the caramel and turning it bitter
- Cutting before fully set, causing the brick to crumble
Provenance
A Paraguayan confection of long standing, sold by street and bus vendors throughout the country.
References
- 1.Paraguayan street-food tradition
- 2.Guaraní culinary terminology
Confidence: high