Chicken Arepas (Corn Cake)

 

A little story comes with this wonderful little morsel of food! So in December 2012 me, my husband and our little boy went to visit my husband's family in Bucaramanga, Colombia. This was my first trip ever out of the US and was very nervous about everything! The trip ended up being wonderful and I am so glad I went!! Anyways back to the food. On our first morning there we went to a place called The Plaza which is like a little market place where you can buy food or other items. They have little restaurant tables set up where you can get food while there and this is where I met the Chicken Arepa! Oh My Goodness the food there is amazing!! It is all fresh and wonderful! I thought when I got home I need to learn to make this because my life is not complete without this food anymore LOL!! So after a few tries I have got this down to a science. I have not figured out how to make Aji(hot sauce) that tastes the same as it did in Colombia, but I am going to keep trying until I do! So I hope you will try this I may be posting a video on how to make the Arepas since it can be a bit difficult to figure out by just reading the recipe.

 
Chicken Arepas (Corn Cake)

Arepas

• 1 Cup PAN Pre-Cooked White Corn Meal (pictured to the right,  Maceys or at Latin grocery stores is where we have found it here in Utah)
• 1 Cup + More if needed HOT Water
• 1 tsp Salt or more for taste
• Oil for frying. ( I use Corn or Vegetable oil and sometimes Olive Oil. It is up to your taste)
• Cast Iron Pan or a Pan that you like to fry things in.
• Makes 4-6 Arepas

Get a mixing bowl and add the PAN in and salt then HOT water. Make sure the water is very warm this helps bind the corn meal together to make a dough. Then mix with large spoon or fork, sometimes hands if you want to get a little dirty! Then you want it to be a soft dough so you may need to add more water. Then you want to make several balls from the dough 4 to 6 depending on how big you want the Arepas to be. Put a little cold oil on your hands and take one of the pre-made balls and smash it into a disk about a half inch thick. Pat the edges if they become cracked. Get your frying pan ready with the oil. You can be as liberal as you want with the oil. A little or a lot it depends on your taste. I use enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Then you add the disk to the hot pan and cook a few minutes on each side until they have browned a bit on each side. Set them on a plate lined with a paper towel and go prep the chicken filling.

Chicken

• 2 to 3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts Shredded or 1 Cooked Whole Fryer Chicken from the store meat off bone and shredded
• 1/3 or less Cup of Mayonnaise
• 1 bunch of Cilantro finely chopped
• 1 tsp Cumin or 1 tsp Adobo Cumin Seasoning (Found at Viva Market in Utah)
• Lime Juice or True Lime (At most grocers in Utah) or 1/2 Fresh Lime
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil the Chicken in 2 quarts water you can add seasoning to the water like the True Lime or the Adobo or just leave it plain with salt or you can buy a cooked chicken from the grocery store and debone it and shred meat either will do. Once chicken is cooked all the way through (No longer pink) shred and put in a mixing bowl. Then add remaining ingredients. Stir with fork until all combined. Set aside.

Next to assemble get the arepas and take a knife and slice almost in half leaving a little at the bottom so they hold together. Then stuff with chicken mixture. And Enjoy!! My kids love just eating the Arepas and the cooked chicken. They don't like the filling all made up so much but me and the hubby go crazy for these!! You can atop it with fresh salsa which is recommended! I will add a video shortly on this recipe as well as a recipe for Aji(hot sauce) that is suppose to go with this!