Reina Pepiada (Arepas stuffed with Chicken Salad)
Every country has an iconic sandwich that you can find on just about any menu. And so it is in Venezuela with La Reina Pepiada. The sandwich was born as a tribute to the 1955 winner of the Miss World beauty pageant, Susana Dujim, a beautiful Venezuelan with raven black hair. Apparently, Miss Dujim's title was the source of great national pride so a local sandwich shop in Caracas decided to create a stuffed arepa to pay tribute to the new reigning queen of beauty. To promote the sandwich and to further pay homage to Susana the owner's dressed up one of their young daughters as a beauty queen so that passers-by could see her in the sandwich shop's front window.
Apparently, by chance, Susana's father was walking by the shop and saw the young girl. Made inquiry about why she was dressed up as a beauty queen and he brought Susana to the sandwich shop the following week to try the tostadita. More than your average amount of publicity arose from the whole affair. The owners had promoted the sandwich as "La Reina" (the Queen). In the mid-50s attractive women in Venezuela with curvaceous bodies were called "pepiadas". Well the rest is history. The sandwich became known as the Reina Pepiada and is the undisputed "queen" of Venezuelan sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 2 cups corn flour (Dona Arepa, Harina P.A.N., or Areparian)
- 1 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 2 tbspcooked and shredded chicken (about 1/2 rotisserie chicken) vegetable oil
- 1/2 roasted chicken pre-cooked, shredded
- 1 yellow onion large yellow onion, finely diced
- 3/4 cups mayonnaise light
- 2 tbsp lemon juice fresh
- 1/2 cup cilantro (leaves) finely chopped fresh cilantro
- salt kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 avocado Hass avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and finely diced
Instructions
For Arepas:
- Adjust your oven racks to the upper- middle and lower-middle positions and preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk together the corn flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the butter into 21/2 cups of water, then add it to the flour mixture, stirring until well combined. The dough will start out loose but the flour quickly absorbs the liquid. Start to knead the dough in the bowl and once it becomes very soft and doesn’t stick to your hands, after about 8 minutes, the dough is ready to be shaped (if, while kneading, the dough seems too stiff and breaks apart, add a few tablespoons of hot water; if it is too sticky, add a little more corn flour).
- Divide the dough into 16 equal balls and flatten each between your palms into a 3 1/2- to 4- inch patty that’s about 1/3 inch thick (for a less rustic- looking arepa, press the arepa into a disk using a flat- bottomed plate; you can wet your hands with a little water if the dough is slightly sticky).
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium- low heat for 2 minutes. Add 3 or 4 arepas to the pan (depending on how big your pan is); the arepas should sizzle as they hit the skillet. Cook the arepas until they’re golden and have a nice crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip them and brown the other side for an additional 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the arepas to a rimmed baking sheet and set aside. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil (if the pan is dry) and the remaining arepa dough disks (you’ll probably need to use two baking sheets to bake the arepas).
- Bake the arepas until they puff up, 20 to 30 minutes, switching the pans so the top baking sheet is on the bottom and the bottom moves up to the top, midway through cooking. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes
For Reina Pepiada:
- Place the chicken in a large bowl. Add the onions, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and cilantro and salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine. Gently stir in the avocado, taste, and adjust the seasonings as needed.
For Plating:
- Slice a slit into the top edge of each arepa and gently wiggle a paring knife into the arepa, creating a pocket. Divide the chicken salad among the arepas and serve.
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