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Recipes with arepas

3 recipes that use arepas, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Huevos pericos, takes 15 minutes. It is most often cooked with spring onion, cumin and garlic.

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Huevos pericosScrambled eggs with tomato and onion

Huevos pericos are the everyday breakfast of Colombian homes from Medellín to Bogotá, made before school and work and eaten with a warm arepa and a cup of hot chocolate or tinto coffee. The name comes from the parakeet (perico), for the flecks of green spring onion and red tomato through the yellow egg. The secret is a quick hogao-style base: the onion and tomato are softened first, then the eggs are folded through over a low heat so they stay creamy. The common mistake is high heat, which turns the eggs dry and rubbery. Cook them slowly and take them off while still glossy. If you are cooking for anyone pregnant, a young child or an older person, cook until fully set. Chef's tip: use the long green tops of the spring onion as well as the white; Colombian cebolla larga is all about that mild green flavour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Caldo de costillaBeef rib broth

Bogotá wakes up to caldo de costilla. Cafeterías near markets and bus terminals ladle it out from early morning, and it is the city's famous cure after a late night: beef short ribs simmered until tender in a clear, golden broth with potatoes, onion, garlic and a big handful of coriander. It's simple, beefy and restoring, served with an arepa, a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and maybe a slice of bread. People are tempted to boil it hard to save time; the broth turns cloudy and greasy and the meat tightens, so give it a slow, steady simmer. Chef's tip: make the broth the night before and chill it; you can lift off the solid fat in the morning and simply reheat with the potatoes for a fast, clean breakfast.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

LechonaRoast pork with rice and peas

Christmas, birthdays and town fiestas across Tolima and Bogotá call for lechona: a whole pig, boned, stuffed with its own meat, yellow peas and, in the Bogotá style, rice, then roasted for hours in a wood or brick oven until the skin turns to a glassy crackling. Purists in Ibagué leave the rice out. Few home kitchens fit a pig, so this oven version builds the same thing in a deep roasting tin: cubes of pork shoulder seasoned with spring onion, garlic and cumin, mixed with peas and part-cooked rice, under a blanket of skin-on pork belly. The filling soaks up the dripping pork fat; the top crackles. Serve with insulsos (plain sweet corn tamales) or arepas and lime. Start a day ahead to marinate the meat and dry the skin, plus overnight soaking for the peas. Most failed crackling comes from wet skin, so dry it uncovered in the fridge and salt it well. Chef's tip: score the belly skin closely with a very sharp blade but don't cut into the meat, or the juices bubble up and soften the crust.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with arepas