Arepas

I’ve been making arepas for about 40 years! Some tips: You can’t actually “stir” PAN flour/meal. Once the water (should be warm water) hits the dry ingredient it almost immediately begins to clump. Do not try to stir with a spoon as you would a cake batter. Just stick your clean hands into the dough and stir with open fingers to feel for the clumps. Keep massaging the dough until no more clumps. Cover. I brown them in a cast iron pan then put them in oven while I prepare the filling.

Tip from a Venezuelan: If you make the arepas like they tell you in the recipe above they will be undercooked. After grilling them in the cast iron, stick them in the oven, over a flat surface (I use a pizza stone). They should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but never gummy. 10 -15 minutes @ 400 F does the trick.

Three tips: As far as I’ve tried, P.A.N. is the only arepa harina worth buying. I’ve tried Goya and Maseca and both were awful for arepas. Colombian style (the best!): add a half pound of grated mozzarella or similar white cheese to the dough; eat with breakfast (unstuffed). Freeze and then reheat in the toaster oven or microwave until warm and crisp up in a frying pan.

I’m Venezuelan and have been making arepas my whole life. I agree with the comments that this cooking method will leave you with raw arepas. Arepas should NOT be gummy, they should be crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Stick it in the oven for 15-20 minutes @ 400° after grilling them. When you tap them gently, they should sound hollow. Ideally they should puff up slightly from the steam.

In my parents home in Medelllín, in the 60s and 70s, the kernels were cooked, and then ground, and then arepas were shaped by skillful hands. I understand the appeal of the commercial corn flours, and in the US I use Doñarepa and Pan, but there is really no comparison with the real thing

Venezuelan here. Never in my life have I put oil in the masa for the arepa. Am I the only one? Also, if using this technique, the oven after the skillet is a must. You can also fry the arepa, which is absolutely delicious!! If frying, make sure there is a hole in the middle (like a donut, but way smaller).

You can keep the filling and the arepa separate. So you get your arepa brown and a bit crunchy, and you have your mix of avocado and whatever (oh, not always cilantro!) and then you have a forkful of your filling and a bite of your arepa, everything fresh. But the Venezuelan way of it is to fill the arepa, and that is often very nice too.

Another set of tips to make these is that in Venezuela we use the white pre-cooked cornmeal rather than the yellow one, which is a bit sweeter, and to add a little bit of butter rather than oil into the dough (just melt it a little bit and you are good to go). Also, if you have an air-fryer, I love to cook them pan-seared first and then put it in there, since it just gives it very crispy edges. But this last one is just a personal thing I like to do.

These are like reina pepiada, you can try with the cilantro being finely chopped, not line in the picture

No, it's not.

As a Venezuelan here.... add oil or don't, your choice. Some people swear by adding oil saying it makes the dough "softer." In my opinion, it doesn't matter, just more calories. Cooking time listed WAY: underdone. I leave mine in the cast iron skillet on low 10 minutes per side; however, airfryer/oven for the 10-15 minutes...also is perfect (I just get lazy). My brother adds all sort of stuff to his dough: oatmeal; flaxseed meal; etc to taste. We don't measure, it is entirely by feel.

I grew up having Arepas, from my grandmother that came from Colombia in the 50's. She has taught her daughters, daughter in laws and many granddaughters how to make. I once went to a place in Manhattan that made these types of Arepas, and I never enjoyed them this way. She'd make them into small patties and you'd make holes and put butter and salt. they are delicious. There are many ways to make arepas, so many cultures make them differently. I'm glad that Costco's and Sam's them premade.

I think I made them too thin. Maybe English muffin (Thompson’s not Wolferman’s) thick. The Venezuelan comment about finishing in the oven will be added to my plan for next time. And there will definitely be a next time.

Delicious, filling, and satisfying.