- Look at this.
(lively upbeat music)
Hi, guys, it's Vanessa.
So I was born and raised in Miami.
I have had a bunch of arepas, Venezolanas, Colombianas,
but today is my first time
that I'm actually gonna make them.
So to all my Colombianos, please don't judge me,
it's my first time,
but let's get into it.
All right, so here we have two cups of cornmeal,
Harina P.A.N, some mozzarella cheese, butter, water,
we're gonna heat that up and some salt.
So here I have two cups of water.
I'm gonna heat it up in this little pan over here.
So now we're just gonna wait until that heats up
and we are ready to mix it into our harina de maiz.
So we have the warm water here.
I'm just gonna add a little bit of butter
about a table spoon.
So we're gonna wait for that to melt.
We are ready to start making our masa.
All right, so now we have our water
with a little bit of butter
and we're gonna pour this into the harina.
We're gonna let it sit for a couple minutes
before we start mixing
because it's a little hot.
It's a little bit cooled off,
so we're gonna start mixing it.
All right, it's not that cooled off.
Nevermind. (laughs)
So make sure the water cools down before you mix it
'cause you don't wanna get burned like I did
and make sure your dough is all combined nicely.
We don't have any clumps.
And now that we have this consistency,
I'm gonna add some of the cheese.
And adding this into the mixture.
(lively upbeat music)
And now, I'm gonna add a little bit of salt.
Just a pinch or two.
But whenever it feels right.
Now we're gonna mix it again.
Now I'm gonna grab a little ball
and we can start making a little shape.
I can start smashing it down
to make her little arepa shape.
Look how cute it looks.
I think we're doing a good job, you guys.
So here we have our first little arepa.
It looks cute.
And we're gonna set it to the side
and we're gonna make the rest of them.
So the thickness I'm trying to get at
is like half of an inch
and I'm trying to make sure that it all is even throughout,
so when I cook it, it is nice and evenly cooked.
(lively upbeat music)
All right guys, so here we have our arepas ready to go.
We have our pan here heating up.
So I'm gonna grab a little bit of butter,
put that into the pan and we're gonna let that melt,
and then we can fry our arepas.
And now we're ready to fry.
And I'm just gonna cook them on medium
until they're golden brown and cooked on the inside.
And then we can add the cheese inside and we can taste them.
I think it's time to flip,
'cause we got some of that golden over here.
Let's grab one of these.
Look, you guys.
(lively upbeat music)
They're looking nice and golden brown.
So now, I'm gonna continue making the rest of them.
So while those are cooking,
I'm gonna open one of these up.
Ooh, I'm excited.
I think I need to let them cook for a little more.
(beep)
All right
(speaking in Spanish)
so we have a situation here.
My arepas are a bit undercooked.
I have some arepas here.
I'm gonna cook them on a low and you know
give them time to cook.
Honestly, I thought this recipe was gonna be super easy
that I got it,
but honestly, you have to really be careful
with the temperature here.
Make sure you're arepa is cook through
and don't take it out so quickly.
I know we wanna taste the it, but you guys,
I have to be a little bit more patient.
So we have our second batch over here.
Almost ready to go.
All right, guys, so here we have our arepas
and I'm gonna cut them up.
All right.
Make sure to not burn yourself.
We're gonna put a slice of cheese inside
and just leave it there.
So you wanna cut these while they're still hot.
So you can put the cheese in and it starts to melt.
So these are ready to go.
So here we have our arepas con queso,
they are ready to go
or I thought they were ready to go
but we called our Colombian friend.
She saw these.
She was like, "Oh, those are not melted,"
but cheese is not melted.
They're not ready to go.
So I'm gonna put them back in the pan.
Make them all melty and then we can try them.
All right, so I'm finishing off these little ones
and I'm gonna put them back in.
Here we have them all melty now.
Hopefully this is more legit.
Ooh, this smells good.
I'm excited to try these.
These smell really good.
All right, so here we have,
I took your tip
'cause you were like, "What are those, girl?"
"They're not melted."
So here we have.
Do you approve now?
- [Woman] I approve. - Awesome.
It's approved, you guys.
You guys heard it here first.
Thank you.
- [Woman] Bye - Bye.
(lively upbeat music)
All right guys, so we are done with our arepas.
They look so good.
Now it's the best part,
let's try them.
Here we go.
Oh my gosh, you guys.
Look at this.
That looks so good.
I'm so ready.
Okay, let's go.
That tastes so good, you guys.
I can taste the cheese,
the crunchiness from the outside,
nice golden crunch on the outside
with the gooeyness on the inside,
it's like the perfect airy little food.
I love this.
I think I did a great job.
If I do say so myself.
Let me know what you guys think in the comments below
and let me know what you want me to try to make next
and I'll see you guys in the next one.
Bye, guys.
(lively upbeat music)