Arepa de Huevo (Colombian Egg Stuffed Arepa)

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A corn arepa fried once, split open, filled with a raw egg and fried again until the egg sets inside. It is the breakfast of the Colombian Caribbean coast, and the seal is the part that goes wrong.

Prep Time5

Cook Time7

Total Time12

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: egg stuffed arepa

Servings:

Calories: 363kcal

Author: Angela Giraldo

Ingredients

280 g cornmeal precooked, masarepa
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup water
Oil for deep frying
4 eggs

Instructions

In a bowl, mix the cornmeal and the salt. Add the water and work it with your hands into a dough. Let it rest.
Divide the mixture into four equal parts, about 70 g each, and roll each one into a ball.
You have two options here: shape a thin arepa with your hands, or put the dough between sheets of plastic wrap and press it flat with a lid. The point is to get it thin.
Heat the oil, and when it is properly hot, lower the arepas in one at a time and fry for 3 minutes, turning once.
Lift them out and drain them.
Let them sit for a moment, then cut an opening about 1½ inches long in the side with a sharp knife.
Crack an egg into a cup and pour it carefully through the opening so it goes inside the arepa, raw.
Take a small piece of dough and seal the opening. Do the same with the rest.
Put the arepas back into the hot oil and fry them for about 4 minutes.
Lift them out onto kitchen paper to drain, and eat them straight away.

Notes

The seal is what decides whether this works. Egg that escapes through the opening spreads across the surface of the oil and burns, and the arepa comes out hollow. Use a small piece of dough, press it firmly over the cut, and lower the arepa into the oil seal-side up so gravity is on your side for the first few seconds. Two fryings, and the first one is the one that creates the pocket. The arepa puffs as it fries and the two walls separate, which is what leaves room for the egg. If it does not puff, it was rolled too thick. Crack the egg into a cup first rather than straight into the arepa. It gives you a chance to pour slowly and to stop if the opening is too small, and a broken yolk in the cup can be dealt with before it is inside anything. This is street food from the Caribbean coast, sold from carts in Cartagena and Barranquilla in the morning, and it is meant to be eaten within minutes of coming out of the oil.

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