Nom Nom: Venezuelan-Style Arepas

Last night we had the opportunity to visit Caracas Arepa Bar in Manhattan and now arepas are pretty much all we can think about. Aaaarrrreeeepppaaaaas. See? At an average of 6 bucks a pop, though, we felt a little like we were being swindled out of something that, while fancier than its more authentic version, wouldn’t have set us a back so much had we bought them in Venezuela. Luckily, it’s not impossible to prepare Venezuelan-style corn cakes (which differ from Colombia’s also-delicious version) at home.

Ingredients

• 2 cups pre-cooked cornmeal 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 3 cups boiling water
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal and salt. Pour in 2 1/2 cups of the boiling water and mix with a wooden spoon to form a mass. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
2. Using moist hands, form balls of dough out of about 1/4 cup of dough and press to form a cake about 3 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick. If the dough cracks at the edges, mix in a little more water and then form the cakes.
3. Heat the oil in a sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the patties, a few at a time, to form a light brown crust on one side, 5-6 minutes. Flip and brown on the other side.
4. When all the patties have been browned, transfer them to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until they sound lightly hollow when tapped. Serve immediately.

This recipe makes 5 individual arepas or 10 mini arepas. You can fill them with pretty much anything you like: Cheese, veggies, guasacaca (teehee!), chicken, beef, pork, the hearts of stillborn unicorns. The arepa we had last night was called a “Mulata” (yes, haha) and included white cheese, sweet peppers, jalapeño peppers, plátanos, and black beans. It was absolutely delicious.

Arepas [Whats4Eats]