Puerto Rican Arepas Recipes

AREPAS DE COCO (PUERTO RICAN COCONUT FRY BREAD)

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Wisk until well combined and add coconut milk. Mix until just combined. Flour your hands and work surface. Then knead dough until completely combined and tacky. Place in a bowl, cover with kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough in half. On a floured work surface roll one-half about 1/8 inch thin. Using a glass or biscuit cutter cut rounds in the dough and repeat with remaining dough.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Test oil with a scrap of dough. It should puff and float. Once the oil is hot you can then carefully add dough rounds to the oil. Fry until dough puffs and then turn the rounds. Continue to fry until golden brown.
• Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain and cool. Serve warm and crisp.

PUERTO RICAN AREPAS

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar, and garlic powder (optional).
• Add the butter and knead with your hands until forming grainy dough.
• Dissolve salt in water. Add the saltwater to the dough and mix until you get a consistency that is somewhat sticky but still comes off your fingers.
• Transfer the dough to a glass bowl or dish, cover with saran wrap or a damp kitchen towel, and let rest for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, divide the dough into 8 small balls of equal size. Take one ball and roll it out on a clean, dry surface with a rolling pin until you get an arepa that's about 5 inches in diameter. Do the same with the remaining dough balls.
• Heat the oil in a skillet, take one arepa, and carefully drop it in the oil. Fry for 45-50 seconds until the edges become golden. Turn it over carefully and fry for another 30-40 seconds. Repeat until you are done with all 8 arepas.
• Serve them with beef, fish, roasted vegetables, or a bowl of soup.

HOMEMADE AREPAS

Steps:

• Stir water and salt together in a bowl. Gradually stir corn meal into water with your fingers until mixture forms a soft, moist, malleable dough.
• Divide dough into 8 golf ball-size balls and pat each one into a patty about 3/8-inch thick.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Working in batches, cook corn patties in hot oil until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer cooked arepas to a paper towel-lined plate to drain until cool enough to handle.
• Slice halfway through each cake horizontally with a thin serrated knife to form a pita-like pocket.