Cómo hacer arepas, con recetas y consejos
40m
Serves 4
Directions
- 1To make arepas we need, basically, two ingredients: pre-cooked corn flour and water.
- 2The pre-cooked corn flour can be of different types.
- 3For arepas we usually use P.A.N. flour.
- 4You have white corn flour, extra-soft white mix (white corn and rice), yellow corn, special corn for frying arepas (usually yellow) or the (more current) wholemeal version.
- 5Choose the one you like the most, although I recommend white or yellow corn flour.
- 6We don't need salt (we'll put it in the filling).
- 7Although in some recipes from Venezuelan friends they usually put a pinch, I will leave it as an optional ingredient.
- 8With them we are going to form our dough.
- 9It is very important that during the process we break up all the lumps of flour to obtain a smooth product.
- 10The dough should be elastic, but not sticky.
- 11Once we have our dough, we let it rest for a few minutes.
- 12After that time, we can know if the dough is very dry if, when making the patty, cracks form on the edges.
- 13In that case we must add water to the dough.
- 14If, on the contrary, the dough has been too soft and cannot be easily molded, we must add a little flour.
- 15Once we get our dough perfect we will move on to the next step.
- 16Shaping the arepas is a fairly free process.
- 17The cakes are achieved by making balls with the dough and then crushing them to create a circular shape.
- 18The thickness of the arepa varies depending on our tastes: they can be larger and thinner or smaller and thicker.
- 19We can cook the dough of our arepas in different ways:
- 20Fried: It is usually the favorite option of most people.
- 21To do this, it is recommended to use a frying pan (preferably iron) and enough oil to cover up to half of the container.
- 22This ensures that the cooking is uniform and the arepas are golden in a few minutes.
- 23As a tip to know if they are done, tap them with your index finger.
- 24If the sound is hollow, they are ready to rest and fill.
- 25Grilled: It is a more complicated option than the previous one, and we must be much more careful so that they are not undercooked inside.
- 26We start with a very hot griddle or frying pan that we will lower to medium temperature one minute after putting the first arepa.
- 27We must move them until they have the color and crispy touch that we want.
- 28The process can take up to 15 minutes (depending on the time we have), we must not be in a hurry.
- 29Baked.
- 30For the healthiest, who prefer to avoid oil, fried foods and calories, there is the possibility of preparing arepas in the oven.
- 31To make them perfect and not stick, we must put a layer of oil on the arepas with a brush and put them in the hot oven.
- 32This type of preparation takes longer than frying them: it can take 20 minutes of baking.
- 33The result is also crispy.
- 34To fill the arepas we must make a transverse cut in the cakes.
- 35The arepas can be filled with all the ingredients you want.
- 36And logically to fill them we must empty them a little, so that all the filling fits and leave the interior a little free of dough.
- 37Thus we form a kind of pocket for our filling.
- 38As in almost any recipe, imagination and creativity, in addition to tastes, are essential.
- 39Cheese, ham, avocado, scrambled eggs, onion and tomato, vegetables… There are endless possibilities, but as always, and to make a more sustainable cuisine, it is highly recommended to use the leftovers of our meals (like when we make croquettes!).
- 40The filling will also depend on the moment you take the arepas: in the morning, for breakfast, or at night for dinner.
Ingredients
- 300 g agua
- 200 g harina de maíz precocida de la marca que más os guste (en este caso hemos empleado marca PAN)
- 3 g sal
- queso
- jamón
- pollo
- cerdo
- aguacate
- huevos revueltos
- cebolla
- tomate
- verduras
Tips
- To make the dough crispy, it is recommended to use very cold water when mixing and kneading the flour.
- If, in addition to crispy, you want the dough to be smoother, you can add a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to the mixture.
- If we want to make them in advance and freeze the arepas, we can wrap them individually without frying in baking paper or transparent film and put them in a freezer bag with a hermetic seal.
- The dough must rest for at least 15 minutes so that the flour finishes absorbing all the water.
- The size of the arepa is indicative, although at home we like an arepa of approximately 180 to 200 grams.
- When we want to consume them, we will have to leave them for 5 minutes at room temperature before preparing them.
- Another option is to store the already fried arepas in the same way (wrapped individually).
- In this case, when we are going to consume them, we will simply have to heat them in the oven at 175º C.
- You can also enrich the dough with different ingredients to give it color, flavor, texture and increase its nutritional value.
- For example, you can add cheese, eggs, milk, oatmeal, chia seeds or even pureed or raw vegetables.
- I have even seen sweet arepas, as a dessert. For this type of arepas, we must include that sweet part in the dough.
- In Venezuela they usually put a little panela or papelón, it gives a more golden color and sweet taste to the dough.
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