Contrary to popular belief, Colombian food is not spicy, at all. In fact, it wasn't until I met Ryan that I started eating spicy food - Chipotle... I could barely handle it at first. Needless to say, I now loooove Chipotle. So because Ryan loves spicy food so much, I tend to add some heat to all of our meals.
So, arepas are a huge part of our cuisine. They are basically corn patties. There are so many different kinds, ways to make it, and ways to accompany it. One of my favorite kind is arepas rellenas, which means stuffed arepas. You can stuff it with shredded chicken, steak, or pork and the meat is sauteéd with hogao, which is a Colombia sauce made of tomatoes and onions.
It took me a long time to be able to make them because the 'corn flour' you need to make them was not sold in this area for a long time. Finally, Publix came to its senses and started selling it in the Hispanic Food section.... my excitement when I found it was ridiculous!
So here's my recipe for Chicken stuffed Arepas - Serves two
Arepas' Ingredients
- 2 cups of Masarepa (precooked corn meal)
- 2/3 cup of warm milk
- 1/3 cup of warm water
- 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted
Arepas' Method
In a bowl, mix the Masarepa, sugar, and salt. Slowly incorporate the warm milk into the ingredients and knead with your hands. Add the mozzarella cheese and start adding the water, little by little until you have the consistency of play-doh (you don't have to use all of the water. You can use the remaining of the water to moisten your hands later on when you form the patties). Add the melted butter and work into the dough.. Cover the bowl, and let it rest while you work on the chicken.
Chicken Stuffing Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bouillon
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/3 teaspoon of garlic salt
- 2 tablespoons of milk
Cook the chicken in a pot of boiling water (water must cover the chicken), add the salt and chicken bouillon.
Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, shred it.
In a pan add some olive oil and sauteé the onions with a pinch of salt and pepper, in medium-high heat until they brown and they look a bit transparent. Add the tomatoes and add a pinch of salt and pepper (again), turn the heat to medium, and let them cook until all the juices have come out and the tomatoes have dissolved - this makes our hogao.
Add the shredded chicken, the garlic salt, and the red pepper flakes. Mix it all together, and add the milk - this will allow for all the juices to come off the pan and incorporate into the chicken.
Assembling it all!
Take the arepa dough and form them into a ball and flatten them to about 1/3 inch of width, they should end up being about 5" in diameter. If they start cracking as you form them just moisten them with some of the warm water, but don't worry about them being perfect - that's part of the rustic way they look.
There are two ways of cooking them: You can grill them - about 3 minutes on each side on medium-high heat until they turn golden and are a little crusty on the outside. You can also place them on a nonstick pan with some melted butter - also 3 minutes on each side.
After they're cooked, smear a bit of butter and sprinkle some salt. Split them in half - the way you would and English Muffin. The inside will be soft and the outside crusty, but that wont mean it is raw (remember the corn meal is pre-cooked). Stuff them with the chicken and enjoy!
I know it is a little bit of a lengthy process, but it is SO worth it - Ryan asked for this three times last week.... and I caved.
