Venezuelan Arepas — the basic recipe with precooked cornmeal

Instructions

1. 01

   Dissolve the salt in the warm water

   Pour the 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) of warm water into a large bowl and dissolve the teaspoon of salt, stirring with your hand or a spoon. The water should be warm, not hot: if it burns to the touch, the dough will turn sticky and hard to work with.

2. 02

   

   Sprinkle in the cornmeal and mix until lump-free

   Add the 2 cups (300 g) of precooked cornmeal gradually, sprinkling it in while mixing with your other hand. This order — water first, cornmeal second — is key to avoiding lumps. For a softer dough, add the teaspoon of oil at this point.

3. 03

   

   Knead for 3-5 minutes and rest for 5 minutes

   Knead by hand for 3-5 minutes until the dough is smooth, moist and does not crack at the edges when pressed. Let it rest for 5 minutes so the cornmeal finishes hydrating. The most common mistake is skipping this rest: the dough cracks when shaping the discs and the arepas break apart in the pan; if it still feels dry after resting, add water one tablespoon at a time.

4. 04

   

   Shape 6 balls and flatten into 10 cm discs, 1.5 cm thick

   Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and roll into balls with slightly damp hands. Flatten each ball between your palms, rotating it, into a disc about 10 cm (4 in) wide and no more than 1.5 cm (0.6 in) thick. Smooth the edges with wet fingers so no cracks remain.

5. 05

   

   Sear on a greased pan or budare, 5 minutes per side

   Heat a skillet or budare (a flat cast-iron griddle) over medium heat and grease it lightly with oil. Cook the arepas 5 minutes per side without moving them, until they form a golden crust with toasted spots. Do not raise the heat to speed things up: they will burn outside and stay raw inside.

6. 06

   

   Finish in the oven at 180 °C for 10-15 minutes until they sound hollow

   Transfer the seared arepas to a baking tray and bake at 180 °C (355 °F) for 10-15 minutes. They are done when they sound hollow if you tap them gently with your knuckles, a sign the inside is cooked and fluffy. If you have no oven, keep them in the covered pan over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes per side.

7. 07

   

   Split open along the edge with a knife and fill as you like

   Let them cool for 2-3 minutes, then split each arepa along the edge with a serrated knife, without cutting all the way through, to form a pocket. Fill as you like: reina pepiada (shredded chicken with avocado and mayonnaise), shredded beef, cheese or ham. Chilean pebre also works as a local twist.