Venezuelan Arepas

Name: Venezuelan Arepas
Prep time: 19 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 34 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Venezuela
Ingredients: 2 cups cornmeal; 2 ½ cups water; 1 tsp salt; 1 tbsp vegetable oil

A Venezuela lunch. Ready in about 34 minutes. Difficulty: medium.

19 minPrep (about)
15 minCook (about)
34 minTotal time
4Servings
MediumDifficulty

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Ingredients

How many people?

− 14 people +

Changed from 4 to 14 people · Back to 4

Fresh & other

7 cups cornmeal
8 ¾ cups water

Sauces & oils

3 ½ tbsp vegetable oil

Spices & seasonings (1): salt

1 tbsp salt

How to make it

Steps in our own plain words.

Turn the oven on to 410° F.
Pour the water into a large bowl.
Make sure it is room temperature.
Add the salt.
Blend fully using mixer, fork or spatula.
Do it to make sure it dissolves well.
While you continue to beat the mix, slowly add your corn meal—a little bit each time.
Wait until all the flour is added.
Keep mixing until salt are well blended, water and the corn meal and dissolved.
Set aside the masa in its bowl.
Let it rest for 5 min so that the flour is well hydrated.
This type of corn flour doesn't have any gluten, so doesn’t need to be kneaded.
Your masa should be smooth, firm yet malleable.
While waiting for the 5 min’ rest, heat your budare over medium heat.
Coat using a little bit of the oil.
Fill a little bowl using water to wet your hands to make your arepas.
Take around 2 Tbsp of your masa in your damp hands.
Your masa should fit in your palm so that it's easy to shape into a small ball.
Cross hands, so that one is over the top of your other, with the masa ball between them.
Rotate right hand in circle, so that you are at same time both pressing the masa in a flat disc plus keeping its round shape, arepa making.
Your last step in shaping arepa is to fast pass plus lightly press your masa disc from one hand to your other until it's around ¾ of an inch thick plus 4 inches wide.
Smooth the edges with your fingertips so that they stay round as possible and without cracks.
Arepa making.
Place your arepas in batches on your preheated surface of budare griddle or nonstick pan.
Let every side turn golden, around 4 to 5 minutes per side.
Check them often so they don’t burn.
Wait until they are nicely browned on both sides.
Place the arepas on a sheet pan in your heat the oven for 10 minutes.
They should be somewhat, so that if you tap arepa lightly over the top, it will sound you are tapping an empty box.
Dish up arepas hot, whether you stuff using them with your choice of fillings or dish up solo to accompany favorite Venezuelan guiso or stew.