Hi, foodies in the Hive!
Once again, I hope you are all healthy and well :)
I've just found out every second Saturday in September since 2002, we celebrate World Arepa Day. Well, I didn't know that.
So in addition to showing you my recipe for coconut bagasse arepas, I also want to share some photos and short reviews of the arepas I make for my family.
As many Venezuelans--and Colombians--, we often eat arepas for breakfast. I like to make them at home and vary the recipe from time to time so we don't get bored.
Ingredients:
- 150gr coconut bagasse
- 100 gr Harina P.A.N. white corn meal
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Oil to fry
I like to use Mazeite corn oil to fry arepas. You can see how the food you fry doesn't absorb it as much, so less fat goes into your arteries. However, I try to fry sporadically. Most of the time, our arepas are roasted.
Let's make arepas!
Everyone has their own way of making arepas: there are those who pour the water first and there are those who add the flour first. I always add the flour first.
So this time I added the corn meal on top of the coconut bagasse that I already had in a container in the fridge; I saved it from yesterday's coconut milk.
...And then I added the salt, all before adding water to the mixture.
Then I added the water.
I always start kneading as soon as the first trickle of water falls on the flour. I use my hands; I make gentle circular movements in one direction only, until I see that all the flour is hydrated and there are no lumps. Then I let it set for 15 minutes or so--this will make your arepas softer.
After 15 minutes, I heated the oil for frying. And while the oil was heating, I made 10 little balls to start shaping the arepas. Each one of these balls weighs about 50 grams; that is, there will be 2 or 3 per person.
I like to shape fried arepas like donuts because this way they turn out crunchier.
The more you open the center, the crunchier they will be.
I used my wok to fry 3-4 at a time.
These arepitas go great with salads and almost any type of salty or sweet and sour fillings or spreads. Today I served them with cabbage, tomato, and scallion salad, with an avocado and apple cider vinegar dressing; I also served some margarine with parsley pesto and black pepper.
They were very crispy on the outside and very soft on the inside. If you are wondering about the texture of the coconut bagasse, it's very soft and you wouldn't notice it if it weren't for the soft and pleasant coconut flavor and aftertaste.
Well, I hope you have found this recipe useful. For me it really is, as I get a lot of coconut bagasse from making coconut milk once a week.
And now that I've shared this little recipe of mine, I'd like to show you more about the arepas we eat at home...
More arepas!
A Short Review of our homemade arepas...
Today, we go to the store and buy Harina PAN--or your favorite brand--, but it wasn't always that easy.
I recently reade a review of the bilingual English-Spanish recipe book Buen Provecho (British War Charities, 1943); I was delighted to find the recipe for arepas that our grandmothers used from the perspective of a foreign lady, i.e. Dorothy B. Crease; here she indicated how to choose, wash and boil the corn a day before, in order for them to be able to make arepas.
For a second, I felt this lady knew more about the food I eat than I did.
This recipe book contains more than two hundred recipes that a group of English-speaking ladies living in Venezuela collected when the Oil Boom began and Venezuela was on its way to prosperity--I know, right?!
All of this made me feel nostalgic and put me in a retrospective mood; the truth is that our way of eating is always evolving, and of course we'd always like it to be for the better.
If you go to the store today, you'll find mixes ready to make "cachapas" (semi sweet corn cakes) and "arepitas dulces" (sweet anise fried arepas), which are traditionally homemade dishes. I have a hard time trying to accept life is just a lot faster than before.
...I guess there is not much to feel fascinated about for Mrs. Dorothy B Crease anymore.
We must move faster. Period. Most of the time, these are the arepas we eat: harina P.A.N. corn flour, water, and salt.
I mix 2 cups of corn flour + 8 tablespoons of Harina PAN + 1/2 teaspoon of salt to make 4 arepas. But I may change this recipe depending on the texture I want to achieve.
In my country, arepa is a food with a long tradition, but nowadays, if you want to eat old-fashioned arepas, you must find somebody who still makes them this way. You can find many vendors on the street who make them from ground corn dough they buy and cook them over embers; they are really delicious.
Meanwhile,
corn meal makes it easy for me to be creative when ot comes to making arepas.
- I like these a lot: donut shaped and coated with sesame seeds, fried.
- I also like to coat them with black sesame seeds and roast them.
- Donut shaped, coated with oat flakes, fried.
- Roasted, they're also delicious!
- Sometimes I like to sautee some veggies and add them in the dough.
- Mixing fresh boiled cassava with the regular cornmeal I use is one of my favorite combinations. I added carrot for these.
- And this time I used leftover pumpkin creamy soup. We ate these arepas with babaganoush and almond spread.
The list goes on!
But I'll stop here because I must go make some thin arepas for dinner 😁
Bon appetite!
All text and images are my own. I have taken the pictures with my Redmi 9T cell phone. And if any GIFs here, I've used GIPHY for all them.
Thank you so much for your visit :)
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Wow! Estoy gratamente sorprendida al ver todas las variaciones que se pueden hacer con las arepas. Nunca las había visto. Solo he visto que las hacen con jugo de remolacha o zanahoria. De verdad, que me ha encantado y he quedado maravillada. De ahora en adelante haré mis arepas de manera más divertida y más enriquecidas.
Probaré hacer las arepas en forma de donas.
Todas las arepas se ven muy ricas!
Gracias, @marlyncabrera por compartir estas ideas para variar la forma de comer arepas que están buenísimas.
Las arepas definitivamente no nos aburren, entre otras cosas, como un arraigo enorme, porque los rellenos pueden ser casi de cualquier cosa; sin embargo, variar la mezcla y la forma siempre es placentero para quien las hace con cariño y quién se las come--con hambre 😂
Las arepas con forma de dona son mis favoritas cuando las quiero fritas.
Gracias por pasar, querida @zupasteleria 😁❤️
Delegations welcome!
Much appreciated 😁Thank you so much for your consideration and support, @plantpoweronhive 🖤🌿
Que divina variedad, me encanta lo que nos muestras, que siempre tengas buen provecho 🤗
Buen provecho para ti también, @evev 😋 Espero que te gas hambre porque hay muchas arepas para repartir.
Gracias por pasar 💕💕
¡Con gusto! Hoy tenemos promoción especial 😁
Me parecen tan extrañas la arepas con el bagazo del coco y hubiera pensado que su textura se sentía, pero quedan suaves y la verdad es que se ven lindas ,crujientes y deben saber muy bien.
Una receta innovadora, nueva,original, yo solo tengo felicitaciones para ti y tus grandes ideas, eres una excelente Chef amiga je je.
Sabes, fue idea de mi esposo. Yo siempre creí que un bocado de arepa con bagazo de coco sería duro de tragar, jeje. Pero son suavecitas y muy sabrosas, incluso si las asas. Y lo más importante es que tienen mucha fibra. Para mí es un ganar-ganar porque así aprovecho el bagazo que queda de la leche de coco. También uso el bagazo y la piel que me queda de hacer la leche de almendras, que es mucha menos cantidad, pero no encontré las fotos.
Todo mi cariño va volando directo a Pasto, mi querida @marpa 😁💕💕💕
Yo quiero dos... pero de cada una de estas ricas versiones, voy por unos aguacates mujajaja, ya vengo 🤗🤗🤗
Es temporada, así que podemos ponerle bastante aguacate 😁
Estos día hemos conseguido la variedad de por aquí a la que le dicen mantequilla; son una delicia como sustituto de la mayonesa, así sin más que agregarle.
Un abrazo ❤️
Mira voy saliendo pa tu casa, duerme los gatos jajaja
Con cloroformo?
No vale jajaja, solo déjalos fuera de casa mientras comemos 😂, si tienen una casita los arropas , le ponemos galletas y unas pelotas de pabilo para que jueguen 😹
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I like your recipe your tutorial is very good. thanks for sharing.@marlyncabrera
Thanks a lot, @hindavi 😁 I'm glad you like it! 💕
These look like masterpieces. I wish I could just have a bite. I wish I would have known it was world arepa day. I would have gone to one of the two local areperias to see if they showed signs of knowing hahah.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. One day I will have to fake one of these with whatever coconut I can find.
Have a great day my friend!😊💚
I just found out about World Arepa Day. For us Spanish speakers, it sounds funny. Another funny thing, we say "areperas" instead of "areperías". Arepería totally makes sense. In an arepera, they serve arepas with different fillings, and this is also the name of the woman--not a man--who makes arepas for a living.
You must make arepas, but make them small and thin or you'll put on weight before you know it! 🤣
Thanks for dropping by my friend 💚🙏
Haha I guess I read the sigh wrong. This restaurant is 3 minutes away and it's called ArePerA
We had our first arepas there and it was mushroom. They were really good. I have tried making them twice and they were not that great. I don't try to them again because the feeling of failure is not nice haha.
We can't afford to dine out much so I guess if I want to have arepas I have to be brave.
I checked out the link; I see they sell some of the most popular arepas, and they also serve empanadas. We have three favorite plant based fillings at home: coleslaw with avocado, steamed leek with fried plantain and margarine, and Escalivada. My favorite is Escalivada; it goes deliciously with arepas.
It's nice to know you have an arepera in town. Arepas are really inexpensive if we make them at home, so I guess you have to be brave 🙈
S