Colombian-Style Arepas (Griddled or Grilled Corn Cakes) Recipe

The first time I went to Colombia, my not-yet-wife warned me that I'd be eating arepas. A whole lot of them. What she didn't prepare me for was the baffling array of styles they come in. If you're like I was back then, you hear the word arepa, and you think "Oh, it's that Venezuelan/Colombian corn cake, right?" And you probably have an image in your mind of a thick tortilla.

But to think in that narrow scope is the equivalent of a Colombian native hearing about bread and saying, "Oh, it's that European wheat cake, right?" Within the first three days alone, I sampled over a dozen different varieties of arepas. The most basic in the Bogotá region are made with starchy white corn flour pressed into cakes about a quarter-inch thick, then griddled or grilled until cooked through, and served with butter, cheese, or hogao, a cooked mixture of onions and tomato.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. You'll find arepas stuffed with cheese and baked on hot stones in coal-fired ovens. Arepas with sour milk cheese worked right into the dough. Arepas de choclo, made like a pancake with sweet corn on a hot griddle. Arepas de huevo, golden yellow deep-fried puffy arepas split open and stuffed with an egg. Tiny arepitas eaten as a snack. Even packages of arepa-flavored corn chips. Move out of Colombia into Venezuela, and you'll find thicker arepas split open and stuffed with fillings ranging from cheese and beans to pork or shrimp.

It's a wide, wide world out there, but we've got to start somewhere. Here, I give instructions for making basic Colombian-style arepas. You can add crumbled cheese to the dough for more flavor, but for a richer, gooier result, you might want to try stuffing your arepas with cheese. Thicker Venezuelan-style arepas require a slightly different cooking method. Here is my basic recipe, as well as one for pulled-pork-filled arepas rumberas.

Mixing the Dough

Traditionally, arepas are made by soaking and pounding dried corn in a pilón—a large mortar and pestle. The moist pounded dough would then be shaped into cakes and cooked. These days, most folks buy pre-cooked, dehydrated masarepa—arepa flour—that only needs to be mixed with water and salt to form a dough. Masarepa is pretty widely available in the United States (check the Latin aisle of your supermarket: Goya, PAN, and Areparina are popular brands). It comes in both yellow and white varieties. I usually use the white masarepa.

Making arepa dough takes a bit of practice, but if you've ever made tortillas, you're off to a good start. The key is to use only as much moisture as is necessary to get a dough that doesn't crack when you shape it. Too much water and you'll end up with dense, gummy arepas. The simplest arepas use only water and salt, but I find a bit of oil helps to keep them softer and moist as they cook.

The actual amount of water you'll need depends on the brand of masarepa you use, but a good basic rule of thumb is to start with a 1:1 ratio (by volume), then add more water as necessary. I add about a half teaspoon of kosher salt and a half teaspoon of oil per cup of masarepa and water.

This is about the right amount. After adding your water and salt, let the dough sit covered with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap for five minutes or so to make sure that it's fully hydrated, then add more water if it still feels dry.

Shaping and Cooking

Shaping an arepa is a two-handed process. If you're a real expert, you can do it without a work surface, simply pressing it back and forth between your hands until it forms a disk about a quarter inch thick and four to six inches wide. I find it easier to shape on a cutting board, using one hand to flatten and the other to shape.

Once the arepas are formed, there are a few cooking options. A grill pan or actual grill is great, as is a flat, lightly buttered skillet (use cast iron or non-stick). Even easier is a panini press.

Whatever method you use, the key is low, slow heat. You want to cook slowly in order to drive off excess moisture from the interior as the exterior gets slowly browned. A well-made arepa should take at least 10 to 15 minutes to cook.

Cheesy Arepas

Want to take your arepas to the next level? Try adding some cheese directly to the dough.

Young Colombian cheese tends to be slightly sour and has a relatively high melting point, which is necessary when you incorporate it into the arepa dough. You don't want it to melt all over the place while you cook. (For using melty cheeses, see my recipe for cheese-stuffed arepas.)

You can use traditional Colombian farmer's cheese, feta, cotija, ricotta salata, or even a relatively young Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano will work (if using the latter two, cut the amount called for in half).

After that, forming the arepas and cooking them is exactly the same.