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AI-generated photograph: Two golden griddled corn arepas on a pale blue enamel plate with a soft heap of scrambled eggs flecked with red tomato and green spring onion, fanned avocado slices and coriander leaves

Home · Recipes · Colombian arepas with huevos pericos

Latin American · Breakfast

Colombian arepas with huevos pericos

griddled corn arepas · soft scrambled eggs · tomato and spring onion

AI-generated photograph

Warm corn arepas, crisp outside and soft within, with huevos pericos: Colombia's breakfast of soft scrambled eggs cooked with tomato and spring onion.

Contains: eggs and milk, as written. Eggs, and milk in the optional butter. Masarepa is made from maize and contains no gluten, but check the packet says gluten free in case it is made alongside wheat.

Ingredients

  • 250g masarepa (pre-cooked white maize flour, in the world foods aisle; not ordinary cornmeal or cornflour)
  • 1 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch for the eggs
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil: 1 for the arepas, 1 for the eggs
  • 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 ripe tomatoes (about 250g), chopped
  • 8 eggs
  • 20g unsalted butter, to spread on the arepas (optional)
  • To serve: 1 ripe avocado, sliced
  • To serve: 10g fresh coriander, leaves picked

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Let's cook

  1. Make the dough. Mix the masarepa and 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl, then pour in 330ml warm water and stir. Knead with your hand for 1 to 2 minutes until it is smooth and soft, like play dough. Leave for 5 minutes; if it then cracks when pressed, work in a little more water.
  2. Split the dough into 8 balls. Flatten each between your palms into a round about 8cm wide and 1.5cm thick, smoothing any cracks at the edge with a wet finger.
  3. Heat the oven to 120C (100C fan) to keep things warm. Brush a large non-stick frying pan with half the oil and set it on a medium low heat. Cook the arepas, 4 at a time, for 6 to 8 minutes on each side until golden with a firm crust. They are done when they sound hollow when tapped. Keep them warm in the oven.
  4. Make the pericos. Heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the spring onions and fry for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt and cook for 4 minutes until soft and jammy.
  5. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Turn the heat down to low and pour them into the pan. Leave for 20 seconds, then stir slowly with a spatula, pushing the egg from the edges to the middle. Take the pan off the heat when the eggs are softly set but still look a little wet; they keep cooking for a moment.
  6. Split the warm arepas open or serve them whole with a little butter on top. Spoon the eggs alongside and finish with avocado slices and coriander.

Tips

  • Masarepa is already cooked, so ordinary cornmeal or polenta will not work: the dough will not hold together.
  • Low and slow is the secret for both: arepas need time to cook through, and eggs stay creamy on a gentle heat.
  • Cooked arepas freeze well. Reheat them in a dry pan or the oven until hot all the way through.

Swaps

  • Vegan: skip the butter and replace the eggs with 400g firm tofu, crumbled and cooked with the tomatoes and a pinch of turmeric.
  • Cheesy: Colombians often split arepas and tuck in grated mozzarella; this adds milk.
  • Dairy free: leave out the butter.

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