Reina pepiada

Ingredients

The arepas

• 300 gprecooked maize flour
• harina P.A.N. or similar
• 450 mlwarm water
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• oil, to cook

The filling

• 400 gcooked chicken breast
• shredded
• 2ripe avocados
• 4 tablespoonsmayonnaise
• juice of 1 lime
• 1small onion, very finely chopped
• chopped coriander
• salt and black pepper

To cook the chicken

• 1onion, halved
• 2bay leaves
• a few peppercorns
• salt

Sometimes added

• 1 stickcelery, finely chopped
• a little green chilli
• a splash of the chicken stock

Directions

1. Press gently near the stem end. It should give slightly under pressure. Cut avocado browns quickly in air. Add it as soon as you mash it.
2. Make the filling close to serving. The filling is mashed but not smooth. Put the chicken in a pot of water. Add the onion, bay and peppercorns. Keep that stock for other things. Bring it slowly up to a bare simmer. Keep it below a proper rolling boil. It should barely tremble at the surface.
3. Check it rather than guessing at it. There should be no pink at all. Cut into the thickest part to look. The juices should run entirely clear. Poach it for longer if it is not. Let the chicken cool in the stock. Cooling in liquid keeps it moist.
4. Pull the chicken apart with two forks. Pull along the grain of the meat. Work through all of it steadily. Put the warm water in a wide bowl. Stir all the salt into the water. Salt goes into the water first. Salt added to dry flour sits in lumps. Stir it constantly as it goes. Add it gradually rather than all at once. Stir with your hand or a spoon. That prevents lumps forming entirely.
5. Knead the dough right in the bowl. Give it about two full minutes. Work out any lumps you can feel. It needs no long kneading at all. Cover the dough and let it rest. Give it about five full minutes. Check the texture again after. Judging the dough takes a test.
6. Roll a small ball and flatten it. The edges should not crack at all. Work in a little more warm water. Sticky dough needs more flour. Divide the dough into four balls. Flatten each into a thick disc. About a centimetre and a half thick. Pinch and smooth them all round. Take a moment over each single one. Heat a little oil in a heavy pan.
7. Use a medium heat rather than high. They need to cook right through. Cook it longer if it sounds dull. The crust should be golden and firm. Halve the avocados and scoop them out.
8. Discard the stone very carefully. Mash the avocado roughly with a fork. Add the lime juice immediately. Lime stops it browning as it sits. Add it the moment you mash it. Do not leave it exposed to air. Mash it roughly rather than smooth. Leave some visible chunks in it. A smooth purée is not what is wanted.
9. Fold in all the shredded chicken. Add the mayonnaise and the onion. Add the coriander and seasoning. Chop the onion extremely finely. Chop it as fine as you possibly can. It should be creamy but not sloppy. Add a splash of stock if too stiff.
10. Add more chicken if too loose. Split all the hot arepas open. Cut most of the way through only. Leave one edge joined as a hinge. That stops the filling falling out. Use a serrated knife carefully. Hot steam escapes when you cut it. Hold it in a thick cloth to cut it.
11. Let it cool for a minute first. Filling them is straightforward enough. Spoon the filling generously inside. Fill them generously rather than sparingly. They should barely close over. Serve them while the arepa is hot. Hot crisp arepa against cool filling. Serve all of them immediately. They are eaten hot as a whole meal.

Technique

• Use precooked maize flour, sold as harina precocida or masarepa — ordinary cornmeal will not work at all, staying gritty and refusing to bind, and masa harina is a different product again. It hydrates instantly, so the dough forms within a minute and needs only a short rest to firm up.
• Chicken must be cooked right through: the thickest part must reach seventy-five degrees, the juices run entirely clear and the flesh be white throughout. Poach it at a bare simmer that barely trembles, since a hard boil toughens it, and let it cool in the stock, which keeps it moist.
• Add the lime juice the moment the avocado is mashed, since cut avocado browns within minutes in air, and make the filling close to serving.

Substitutions

• Finely chopped celery and a little green chilli are common additions; chop the onion as finely as you can, since coarse onion dominates the filling and stays unpleasantly crunchy.
• Finishing the cooked arepas ten minutes in a two-hundred-degree oven guarantees the middle cooks through, and is a genuinely useful step.

Variations

• Shape the arepas about a centimetre and a half thick so there is enough to split and fill — a thin one cannot be filled at all — and smooth the edges with wet hands, since cracks open up as they cook. Tap a cooked one: it should sound faintly hollow, where a dull thud means it is still raw inside.
• Mash the avocado roughly with visible chunks left in and pull the chicken along the grain into long shreds — a smooth purée and chopped chicken are both wrong for the characteristic texture.
• The filling was created in 1950s Caracas and named for Susana Duijm, crowned Miss World in 1955; reina means queen and pepiada was period Venezuelan slang. The connection to Duijm is well established even where accounts of the exact circumstances vary.

History

Created in 1950s Caracas and named for Susana Duijm, the Venezuelan crowned Miss World in 1955.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reina pepiada?

Reina pepiada is a street food from Venezuela: arepa filled with chicken and avocado mashed with mayonnaise. Created in 1950s Caracas and named for Susana Duijm, the Venezuelan crowned Miss World in 1955.

How long does Reina pepiada take to make?

Reina pepiada takes 30 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Reina pepiada?

Yes, within limits. Finely chopped celery and a little green chilli are common additions; chop the onion as finely as you can, since coarse onion dominates the filling and stays unpleasantly crunchy. Finishing the cooked arepas ten minutes in a two-hundred-degree oven guarantees the middle cooks through, and is a genuinely useful step.

What is the most important thing to get right in Reina pepiada?

Check it rather than guessing at it. There should be no pink at all. Cut into the thickest part to look. The juices should run entirely clear. Poach it for longer if it is not. Let the chicken cool in the stock. Cooling in liquid keeps it moist.