Posted on: Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Mex and match with Latino corn cakes

• Arepas and sopes recipes you can try in your kitchen

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Anna Marie Armstrong's Venezuelan-style arepas are hamburger-size patties browned on a Mexican griddle called a comal, then deep-fried so that they puff slightly and cook through. Here, she serves the cake with a jalapeno butter: softened butter with minced jalapenos and garlic. Photos by Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Deep-fried arepas have a particularly crunchy, crackly exterior and tender interior; but if fat is a concern, the cakes can be sealed (they won't really brown) in a nonstick frying pan and baked in the oven to greatly reduce fat content. Corn-cake tips Use masa harina, maseca or special arepa flour. Find ingredients online or at Latin groceries such as El Mercado de la Raza (1315 S. Beretania St.). For added texture, substitute cornmeal for one-quarter of the flour. Allow dough to "rest," covered, 20-30 minutes. Wet your hands before forming cakes from dough. Turn cakes only once; don't poke and prod them. If deep-frying, be sure oil is at 375 degrees.

Arepas, gorditas, sopes, picaditas, garnachas, pupusas.

Don't trip over your tongue. They're all just corn cakes — delicious mouthfuls served steamy hot, a crisp-creamy-crisp textural sandwich that's positively addictive.

You can find them in some restaurants. But if you can boil water, fry a pancake and turn on the oven, you can make 'em.

Anna Marie Armstrong of Hickam Village, a military wife, mother and student chef at Kapi'olani Community College, grew up eating gorditas and their South American cousin arepas in San Antonio, Texas. "We had neighbors from Colombia and Argentina," she recalled, "and they taught us how to make them. And Mexican gorditas, they are exactly the same thing."

Standing in her bright kitchen decorated with a Southwest theme, Armstrong smiles as she remembers:

• An aunt in Mexico who still cooked on a wood-burning stove, searing gorditas on a comal (the classic round Mexican griddle), then baking them in the masonry oven, so they absorbed the smoky flavors.
• Plain corn arepas for breakfast, scraped with a fork so the butter would soak right in, or topped with fried eggs.
• Snacks of corn cakes flecked with bacon and cheese or topped with crema, sort of a cross between sour cream and clabbered cream.
• Arepas split and filled with picadilla, a spicy ground-meat filling her father used to make.

Corn cakes are a relatively new addition to Scott Idemoto's culinary tool kit. Maui-born Idemoto, 29, who shares chef duties with his buddy Eddie Santos at Kahului's Ma–ana Garage, thought of polenta when he first saw arepas being made there.

He's not far off the mark: Those fried polenta squares and triangles that popped up on menus all over the place a few years back bear a cousinly relationship to Latin-style corn cakes. Both are made from cornmeal. Both begin as a rather sticky mixture. And both are baked and/or fried to give them a crisp coating and a creamy interior.

But there the resemblance ends. Latin corn cakes are made with fine cornmeal flour (masa harina or maseca) that has been dried and pre-cooked with lime water. They may additionally contain coarser cornmeal or fresh corn, but they always contain masa (dough in Spanish, but implying flour).

Arepas, a specialty at Ma–ana Garage, Hawai'i's only Nuevo Latino restaurant, are a South American specialty, said Idemoto, who has studied them since coming to work at the restaurant in 2001. The various types have in common a base batter of cornmeal flour, water and salt. But their shape, the way they're cooked, the ingredients with which they're served and the additions to the recipe vary by region.

In Colombia, arepas are an inch thick, like a corn biscuit, he said, while in Puerto Rico, the preference is for a thinner version. In El Salvador, a rounded corn cake called a pupusa can be filled with meats or other savory ingredients. Some corn cakes, such as garnachas, are softer-textured, made with fresh sweet corn in addition to cornmeal flour.

Arepas are particularly prevalent in Venezuela, where they are practically the national breakfast food and every home is equipped with an aripo — earthenware tiles on which the little cakes are cooked at high temperature. The Venezuelans give a creamy texture to the batter with a nutty Swiss-made cheese with no holes that's similar in flavor to jarlsberg, Armstrong said.

At Compadres Bar & Grill at Ward Centre, chef Alfonso Navarro makes a half-dozen varieties of sopes: Mexican cornmeal dough formed into thin, three-inch rounds, quickly cooked on the griddle and then fashioned into a small "boat" while still warm. The boats are deep-fried so they hold their shape, then filled. The traditional filling includes chorizo sausage and Mexican cotija cheese. The California version uses tomatoes, basil and spices. Other Compadres sopes fillings range from prawns and cheese to chiles and scrambled eggs.

In common with chefs at other Nuevo Latino restaurants, Idemoto has created deluxe, cross-

cultural versions of the cakes. He has added avocado to the mix and smoky grilled sweet corn. You can vary the cheese and punch up the flavors with herbs, spices or aromatics such as garlic, he says.

One thing he and Armstrong agree on: Once you've mastered making the right texture of batter, and found the cooking technique that works best for your equipment, you can do anything you want with a corn-cake recipe.

"It's not like baking. It's so forgiving," said Armstrong, who makes the cakes the more traditional way, forming hamburger-size patties, grilling them on a stovetop comal and then deep-frying them in a couple of inches of bubbling oil.

"It's what you put into or on top of the arepa that makes the difference," said Idemoto, who makes a lighter version, grilling small, plump cakes, then finishing them in a 400-degree oven.

She uses mozzarella and provolone, or queso blanco (Mexican white cheese), when she can get it. He uses a parmesan/asiago mix.

She loves to add crumbled bacon and bacon fat for richness and flavor. He often uses milk instead of water.

She's been known to make corn cakes with olive oil and chopped olives, or with ground fresh rosemary. He does a version with Okinawan sweet potatoes in it.

She shapes her hamburger-sized, half-inch-thick cakes by first forming a testal, a small ball of dough, then squashing it between her hands and pressing it back and forth between her hands, using her thumb and the ball of her hand to form it and smooth rough edges.

He makes small, chubby cakes, shaping them in the half-moon formed by his right thumb and curved forefinger, using his left hand to turn and smooth and pat the cake.

Both say that it's important not to leave any cracks in the dough, or the cake may break up or cook unevenly, especially if it's fried.

One thing Idemoto probably doesn't know: It's a saying that Anna Marie repeats as she teaches me how to form and fry arepas. After a couple of failures, my first successful arepa began to puff slightly while it spluttered in the oil and she began to laugh. "Now you can get married," she said. "At least, my mother always said if you can make your tortilla puff, you're a good enough cook to get married. I suppose it works for arepas."

Be that as it may, there is one reason to learn how to make a puffy, perfect arepa: You can slit it open crosswise with a sharp knife and fill it with something wonderful (cheese, ham, salsa, a ground meat mixture). ¡Delicioso!

• • •

Arepas and sopes recipes you can try in your kitchen

Anna Marie Armstrong says one trick to forming a corn cake, no matter which type you're making, is to wet your hands slightly so they don't stick to the dough. Press the dough between the palms of the hands to remove any air holes, and turn, pressing edges with thumbs and fingers, to smooth out cracks that can cause the cake to break apart. Find cornucopia á la carte Where to go to get your corn cakes Arepas — Ma–ana Garage, a Nuevo Latino eatery in Kahului, Maui, serves arepas as an appetizer special. Such a special is running at lunch and dinner today through Sunday (dinner only on Sunday). Sopes — Compadre's Bar and Grill at Ward Centre on O'ahu serves sopes, thickish, lightly fried cornmeal shells filled with various indulgent ingredients, from tomatoes and avocado ("Mexican bruschetta") to prawns. Gorditas — "Little fat ones" are made from corn flour, lard and water or stock, fried on a griddle and then in oil and filled with ground meats, cheese and vegetables. A few Mexican restaurants serve these, usually the smaller, homier spots, among them Cholos Homestyle Mexican Restaurant in the North Shore Marketplace, La Familia Restaurante Mexicano in Waipahu, and El Burrito on Pi'ikoi near Kapi'olani.

Corn cakes are like pancakes: Expect to throw the first one away.

But after you figure out the texture of the dough (sticky but not wet), how to form the cake (wet your hands and make sure the cake is well-compacted and edges are smooth) and the cooking technique (grill, fry, deep-fry or bake — your choice), it's a breeze.

Here is chef Scott Idemoto's Nuevo-Latino-type corn cake. Grilled and then baked in the oven, it's a pretty low-fat item (but doesn't fit into a low-carb eating plan). Top the cakes with a little nonfat sour cream and some fresh-made salsa for a satisfying but light appetizer.

South American-style Arepas

• 2 cups fine cornmeal flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon grated parmesan and/or asiago cheese
• 2 cups boiling water

In a large bowl, blend together dry ingredients. Make a well in the center.

Pour in three-quarters of the water and mix with hands to form a slightly sticky dough; add more hot water as needed. Cover with cloth and allow to rest 10-30 minutes.

Pinch off a golfball-size knob of dough and form it into a small, thick cake (a scant inch thick and perhaps 2 1/2 inches across).

On a griddle, in a nonstick frying pan or in a cast-iron frying pan with /-inch hot oil, fry cakes over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes a side, until speckled with golden-brown spots. Then bake them in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for 10 minutes. Or deep-fry in 375-degree vegetable oil until golden brown to tan.

For a richer cake: Use hot milk or part milk/part cream or hot stock or broth.

Variations:

• Corn. Add the kernels from one ear of grill-roasted fresh corn.
• Add up to 1/2 cup baked, chopped Okinawan sweet potato or yam.
• Add crumbled sausage, browned and well-drained; minced jalape–os or other chiles; crumbled bacon; pesto made with basil or cilantro (drained of excess oil); or chopped nuts such as pine nuts. Dried or fresh herbs or spices can be added to taste to give the arepa the desired flavor or character.

Here are Anna Marie Armstrong's rich bacon arepas. She likes to "kick it up a notch" with Essence of Emeril; if you don't like that spice mixture, make your own. She uses frozen corn kernels and grinds them in the blender or food processor. The kernels can be left whole, but they have a tendency to work their way out of the cake and to burn in the oil. Fresh or canned corn, drained, may be used.

Armstrong uses maseca, a Mexican cornmeal flour available at El Mercado de la Raza; the brands of masa harina available in Safeway and other grocery stores are fine, too. In a pinch, you can grind cornmeal in the food processor and use about one-third all-purpose wheat flour and two-thirds cornmeal to make the cakes.

Anna Marie's Bacon Arepas

• 1 cup cornmeal flour
• Pinch of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 tablespoon Essence of Emeril
• 2-3 tablespoons corn kernels
• 1 cup hot milk
• 1 tablespoons bacon fat
• 4-6 strips bacon, fried crisp and coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (or a mozzarella/provolone mix)

Oil for deep-frying.

Grind corn kernels in blender or food process just enough to break open kernels (does not have to be a paste).

Fry bacon, drain and crumble. Reserve bacon fat.

In a large bowl, combine cornmeal flour, sugar, garlic, Essence and corn kernels. Form a well and pour in hot milk and bacon fat. Stir in bacon and cheese.

The dough should be slightly sticky; if it's crumbly, add more milk, some hot water or bacon fat. Allow dough to rest 20-30 minutes, covered with a cloth.

Warm griddle, cast-iron skillet or comal. Place 2 inches oil in a deep frying pan and heat on medium to 375 degrees (a bit of dough thrown into the oil should cause the oil to bubble and sizzle).

With wet hands, pinch off rounds of dough, pat between palms and use thumb and heel of palm to smooth edges and form a hamburger-patty-size round about ¡-inch thick.

Grill cake in griddle, skillet or comal 2-3 minutes, allowing it to form bubbles of golden to brown color. Turn and repeat.

Fry cake until golden all over.

Serve immediately or keep warm for a short period in a warm oven.

You can serve these at breakfast, with eggs and a sprinkling of cheese, or as a snack with sour cream and minced jalape–o.

Here's chef Alfonso Navarro's simple recipe for sopes, Mexican corn cakes. Fill the little boats with sausage and cheese and a little shredded lettuce, with boiled shrimp and guacamole, with sauteed mushrooms, with a poached egg, or with chopped chilies and scrambled egg. You can add crisp, crumbled bacon to this recipe.

Compadres' Sopes

• 1 pound cornmeal
• Pinch of salt
• 4 to 5 ounces of water
• 2 ounces of olive oil

Blend cornmeal and salt in large bowl; make well and add water and oil. Work into dough. Allow to rest for 20 minutes, covered with a cloth. Working with wet hands, form 3-inch rounds, each a quarter-inch thick. Cook on a flat griddle or in a dry frying pan, a couple of minutes a side. Use finger to shape and pinch edges to form little "boats." (You can do this in advance of serving and refrigerate at this point.)

Deep-fry boats in 350-degree oil for 30 seconds until crisp (do not crowd, work in batches, if you need to). Pat boats dry and fill as outlined above.