The hardest part by far is getting the correct flour, and that’s not that hard, it’s just hard to find the information you need. Hopefully this will take care of that.
It goes by a number of names: Masarepa (Goya), Harina P.A.N., Arepina (Quaker), masa de arepa, masa al instante, harina precocida. It can be either white (blanco or blanca) or yellow (amarillo). Most of these are available on Amazon, but at prices I’m told that the experienced cooks laugh and shake their heads at.
The most common seems to be Harina P.A.N. from Venezuela.
This is the stuff I’ve found at a local big-brand supermarket, for $3.19/kilo, and seems to be by far the most popular brand in Venezuela, where they typically use it for pocket sandwiches. There are “arepinas”, sandwich shops, many of which let you choose your fillings at what looks like a taco bar.
Basically, if you’re in a Latin American grocery store or section, it’s corn meal/flour and it says “precocida” (pre-cooked) it has to be the right stuff. I’ve heard it said that the yellow is a bit sweeter than the white… the flavor is different, and I’m not sure which I like better at this point. There are also sweet variants of the flour from various brands, but I’m told that cooks generally just add sugar for dessert arepas or some breakfast arepas. Be careful not to buy the sweet variants by accident, though.
Fundamentally, this is “unleavened”, so it doesn’t rise at all. That simplifies things (a GREAT deal) but it means that it’s not light and fluffy like cornbread, it’s heavier, denser, sort of like pizza crust in that respect but not nearly as tough, much easier to pull apart and chew, more tender because of course there’s no gluten…. and the flavor is nothing like pizza dough. Because it’s unleavened you don’t have to knead it for any particular length of time (beyond just forming it), you can’t apparently over-work the dough, you don’t have to wait for it to “rise”, etc. etc. From flower to eating it in 15 minutes, just like the video.
I’ve seen recipes and videos where people are adding milk, butter, oil, eggs, sugar, molasses, whatever right into the dough, staging it from frying pan to oven to bake or broil to change the texture and flavor, and of course infinite fillings and toppings. My impression is that pretty much anything just works.
Here’s my current procedure for the MOST BASIC form, only fried. They’re very easy to do and pretty good plain or with butter or cheese, and it’s great for learning technique, but they’d be better filled. It sounds a little complicated, but after a few tries it gets much faster and easier, you can do the whole thing in less than 20 minutes:
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Heat some water. Lukewarm works, boiling is fine but you may have to wait for it to cool before working the dough with your hands. I’ve used 192-degree water from the Keurig coffee maker, it’s close to right, or just microwave some in the measuring cup. I heat about 16 ounces, pour 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) into a large bowl and keep the rest handy in case I let the dough go too dry. You control the amount of dough you’re making with the water and add enough flour to get to the right consistency. I find that 12 ounces of water makes 3 arepas of about 4 inches in diameter, which fit neatly on a 12 inch pan.
Dissolve at least two large pinches of salt, maybe more in the water. You might want to experiment with adding a little sugar as well at this point, but I don’t think a little really adds much if anything to the flavor. Some traditions call for a lot of salt, but for 12 cups of water I generally use about a half-tablespoon.
Lay a piece of plastic wrap on a counter or cutting board as convenient.
This is where the temperature of the water comes in. It’s a trade-off- unlike bread the amount that you “work” the dough is not critical at all, but it does need 5-10 minutes to absorb all the water that it’s going to. If it’s too hot for your hands you have to wait for it to cool a bit, if it’s cooler you may have to wait a few more minutes for it to absorb the water.
Start stirring the flour into the water one large spoonful at a time. I’ve found that I need to spoon the flour in to control the rate. The flour is so fine that in trying to pour it always results in huge amounts dumping in no matter how careful I am and I end up having add water and break up lumps. A whisk is good to start but worse than useless as it starts to form into dough, a wooden spoon works, most traditional recipes just call for stirring with fingers it and kneading it with WET hands. If you do get lumps you can break them up with your fingers. The mixture consistency goes from liquid to cream-of-wheat to a really sticky paste and finally to dough. I’ve learned to go for a relatively dry, stiff dough, so the arepas are not “doughy” inside when cooked. It’s important to do this fairly quickly, the flout takes a few minutes to absorb the water, so you can introduce more flour into the mix before then because there is moisture left over. If you wait too long, the water is absorbed into the flour already there, there’s none left to wet more flour, and the same amount of water with less flour means it’s a wetter blend.
As the mixture starts to thicken, it starts to form into a ball and just quits being sticky, but keep adding flour until the ball won’t absorb more. If it’s too dry the edges may split. I split the one ball of dough into three equal balls with wet hands, then roll each part into a ball. One by one flatten the balls into disks with your hands until they’re approximately a half-inch thick and lay them on the plastic wrap, or you may prefer to flatten them part-way in your hands and then press them into final thickness after placing them on the wrap. Again, it’s not possible to “over-work” this dough so you can always form it back into a ball and start over, but there’s no point in trying to make this style perfect. If the edges crack you may want to put it back in the bowl add a bit more water and re-form the original ball, adding more flour as necessary if it’s then too sticky. With a little practice you’ll get it right the first try. Do NOT make the arepas too thin.. for a while I thought that the thinner ones would cook more in the center, but it really seems to make little difference that way, and thicker works better otherwise.
Heat up a large pan to medium or medium hot, I get it to just a bit above medium. If it’s a non-stick pan you might not want any oil at all, if it’s stainless or cast iron you may, but only use a LITTLE oil, just enough to keep the arepas from sticking much. The arepas will tend to soak up whatever oil is in the pan, and if you use too much it will tend to make them heavier and greasy. On the Spanish-language films of people making traditional arepas they tend to either just rub the end of a stick of butter on the pan where it will go, or you see them wipe out any excess oil once it gets hot, but either way they’re obviously trying to minimize it.
Peel he arepas away from the plastic wrap and place them on the pan, not crowding them more than is necessary. With most pans it may be necessary to gently “nudge” each one loose on the surface after a minute or a minute and a half, and then rotate them around with the same side down to get a nice evenly-cooked surface before turning them.
I usually end up cooking the first side for 6-7 minutes or so, then 3-4 minutes on the second side, but you should judge when it’s done by eye, ear and smell. If you under-cook them they’ll look good but lack flavor. You want some DARK brown spots or shapes to form on the surface, not just golden-brown, and not black. Here again, if you use too much oil you might not get these spots, and you’ll have to settle for an even medium brown on the first side. In either case the side should feel hard and stiff if you touch it or tap it with an implement. Don’t be concerned if the surface seems pretty hard, that’s normal. When both sides are cooked remove each arepa to a paper-towel lined plate. Don’t be concerned if some cook faster than others, but remove each as they’re done. Let cool for maybe five minutes and serve.
– Robert the Wombat