Arepas stuffed with avocado, chicken and mayonnaise

How to make arepas stuffed with chicken, avocado and mayonnaise.

To speak of arepas is to speak of Venezuela and its people. Although they are also prepared and consumed in other nearby countries such as Colombia, with some variations in their elaboration or fillings.

Arepas can be prepared roasted, fried or grilled. They can be salty, sweet (adding sugar to the dough), pork rinds , aniseed or “peeled” arepas , which are cooked with ashes.

These arepas that I present to you are an adaptation of the most famous in Venezuela, the arepas with Reina Pepiada filling .

The creaminess of the sesame and its flavor combine perfectly with the chicken and the avocado, making this filling a mouth-watering bite. Who are encouraged?

Arepas dough

1. We pour the water into a large bowl and salt.
2. Add the flour and begin to stir with the help of a spoon or fork.
3. By using lukewarm water, we achieve that the flour integrates better and does not produce lumps.
4. As soon as we see the mixture become consistent, we start working with our hands.
5. We are mixing / kneading in movements from the outside to the inside, so that the flour completely absorbs the water and results in a uniform and compact dough.
6. We know that the dough is at its optimum when they do not stick to the hands.

Preparation, shape and pancha of arepas

1. We wash our hands and make balls that are a little bigger than a walnut (as if we were making meatballs).
2. We crush them until we get a rounded shape.
3. As we are going to fill them, we will make them a finger thick (1.5 cm) and between 8-10 cm in diameter.
4. If we see that a crack has formed in the dough, we give it with a little water and close it.
5. In a very hot frying pan (we will make 4 in 4).
6. We add a little oil (so that they do not stick to us later) and heat at medium temperature so that the arepas cook well and are not raw inside.
7. We cook them round and round, about 14-20 minutes.
8. Those that you see that are already in their place we put them on a tray in the oven at 100º C so that they do not lose temperature. This will keep the crispy exterior.
9. We are repeating the process with the rest and we reserve in a source when they are all done.
10. We cover them with a cloth so that they do not cool or we do the trick of the oven that I mentioned earlier.

Preparation filling of the arepas

1. In a saucepan we put the whole chicken breast, the unpeeled garlic cloves, half the onion and a pinch of salt.
2. Cover with water and cook for 30-35 minutes.
3. Once the chicken is cooked, we wait for it to temper just enough to be able to crumble it and leave it in threads with the help of our hands. We reserve.
4. Peel the avocado and mash it with a fork. For this it is essential that the avocado is at its ripening point.
5. In a bowl add the crushed avocado, the frayed chicken and the second half of the diced onion.
6. We also incorporate a pinch of salt and the mayonnaise sauce . Mix well and we have the filling ready.
7. We cut the arepas that we have reserved in half longitudinally, without reaching the bottom, and we put the warm filling inside. Simply delicious.

You already know how to do them, now to practice and you will tell me … to see if you do it with an authentic Venezuelan.

If the video and the recipe do not reach you. Do not miss the step by step recipe of the arepas with sesame .

Tips for perfect arepas

• Arepas are made with precooked corn flour, which can be white or yellow.
• In Spain, the most common in any large area is the  PAN brand , which is perfect since it is also widely used in Venezuela and the final result is satisfactory.
• These arepas are grilled, round and round, cooked for about 14-20 minutes. My advice is to check that they have a certain golden / tan color on the outside. There is no rush and you will see how they are done to your liking. Then we will finish them in the oven.
• In other parts of Venezuela and especially in Colombia they are usually fried, I like them more grilled or baked, but it goes according to taste.