See recipe for arepa, typical Venezuelan cornmeal bread – 03/25/2024 – Marcão’s Recipes

A recipe sometimes comes from the ingredient. Like when you go to the market, you see that the fishmonger has crayfish and you want to cook something with the animal – it could be grilled, a stew or rice. It happened to me when I went to a supermarket in São Paulo. In one of the aisles, I came across PAN corn flour.

It is a Venezuelan brand that has become an almost compulsory ingredient for making arepas, discs of dough that can be filled with a variety of fillings, like a sandwich. I bought. Then, upon closer inspection, I saw that this flour is nothing more than pre-cooked cornmeal. It exists in white and yellow versions.

Anyway, I felt like making arepas at home. They are the most popular snack in two countries that dispute their paternity: neighbors Venezuela and Colombia.

Arepas can be stuffed with cheese, shredded meat, beans or sausage. A very common filling, of Venezuelan origin, is called reina pepiada. It’s a chicken mayonnaise with avocado.

With due respect to Venezuela’s culinary traditions, I thought the avocado and mayonnaise mixture was too heavy. On the second attempt, I decided to create something inspired by reina pepiada, without mayonnaise.

I filled my arepa with a chicken and avocado salad, dressed with lime, cilantro and red onion, plus tomato slices. It was sensational.

There are arepas of all sizes. The smaller ones look like corn coins. To fill, it is best to shape an arepa with a diameter of approximately 10 centimeters.

Arepas can be fried, grilled or baked. I started by grilling it on the grill, to give it a nice burn on the outside. I finished it in the airfryer to cook the inside. It also works in the oven.

If you can’t find the PAN (tip: you can buy it online), use national pre-cooked cornmeal. Or put the chicken filling on a regular bun. Makes a nice sandwich.

CHICKEN AREPA WITH AVOCADO

Performance: 2 servings
Difficulty: average

Arepa ingredients

• 150 g pre-cooked cornmeal
• 150 ml of warm water
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• Vegetable oil

Filling ingredients

• 1 chicken thigh and thigh fillet
• 1 clove of crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 small avocado (or ½ large avocado)
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• ½ sliced ​​red onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander
• 1 ripe tomato in slices

Way of doing

1. To make the arepas, place the water and salt in a bowl and add the cornmeal little by little, stirring with a spatula. Work the dough with your hands until it is smooth and soft, without sticking. If necessary, add more water or more cornmeal. Let it rest while you prepare the filling.
2. Season the chicken with garlic, salt, cumin, paprika and oil. Grill, wait to cool and chop.
3. Chop the avocado and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent it from darkening. Mix the cold chicken, olive oil, onion and cilantro. Reserve.
4. Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat with a little oil. Divide the arepa dough into 2 balls and flatten them into discs measuring 10 cm in diameter. Grill for 5 minutes on each side.
5. Transfer the arepas to the air fryer and bake for 10 minutes at 180 ºC. Wait for it to cool down.
6. Cut the arepas in half lengthwise. Fill with chicken salad and tomatoes.

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