I saw this viral video of a Venezuelan man a few weeks ago and immediately did a search for Arepas. Filled corn breads, you say? This is something for me! Especially since I can’t remember the last time I tried something completely unfamiliar.
Hit a bit of a snag when I realized I was going to need “pre-cooked cornmeal.” What? Why? Did the whole “Are you sure? Are you really sure?” thing, but gave up fairly quickly.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had to go out in search of an uncommon ingredient, and I’m still pretty weak so I hit the internet. I was able to find a small Venezuelan grocery in Munich, but shipping from Omnipresent International Online Retailer was cheaper than public transportation. My package arrived a couple of days early, so it had to wait for an empty spot in the meal plan…
It feels and smells like cornmeal. I’m not sure I would be able to tell a difference in a blind taste test.
I also looked through all the authentic, traditional fillings and decided on a non-authentic pulled pork from Serious Eats, mostly because Schweinenacken was on sale. I’m still not sure how close the cut is is to a US loin, but it’s good slow-cooked in liquid, and that’s what’s about to go down.
First, I browned chunks of it in my big pan, then sautéed the onion and garlic in the fat.
I replaced the “roasted poblano or hatch” chile with a jalapeño I grew myself last summer. Just pulled it out of the freezer, let it thaw, then burned it in a pan on two sides. Heh.
After adding the chicken broth to the vegetables to deglaze the pan, I dumped the whole mess into my slow cooker, because I wasn’t in the mood to babysit the stove. Cooked it on low for four hours.
Meanwhile, I followed the recipe, which is just “water and salt”. It was sticky. Maybe I didn’t knead it enough, but I did set a timer for the resting period.
The grill pan takes a long time to heat up, and I forgot to brush it with oil.
After twenty minutes, they were still doughy; perhaps my pan wasn’t hot enough or maybe I should have used the griddle instead of the grill. Didn’t matter at all as we ate them, because the meat was so amazing. The extra, seemingly unnecessary step of pouring all the liquid out of the slow cooker and reducing it down about 90% on the stove before stirring it back into the meat creates a flavor bomb. None of the standard midwestern “pork loin in the slow cooker, then shred” sandwiches I was fed as a kid tasted this good–and without barbecue sauce!
Definitely give the technique a try, even if you just serve your shredded pork on plain buns, or in a pile next to your salad.
Final verdict: I will try to make the Arepas again, with the oil and a flat pan, because I do want to try some traditional fillings. The pork filling is going into my grimoire.
I promise.
(I am down to seven cans of discontinued refried beans from my stockpile. Sigh.)
