Vegan "Carnitas" Arepas w/ Charred Poblano Sauce, Jackfruit Carnitas, and Lime Corn
Difficulty: 4/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 2/3 (3 being spiciest)
Prep & Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4
The Challenge: Carnitas Arepas
Today, let's visit Venezuelan cuisine yum yum yum!
Carnitas are a pork product that is sort of a salty, orange-y, pulled apart product. Today, we want to recreate that with a jackfruit based protein. I have to say this is a more involved recipe just because it has a few components. You could make it much easier by leaving any off or buying arepas pre-made. I wanted a fully homemade dish with arepas made from scratch (cuz they're yummmm).
We start with a homemade arepa. The arepa is made from masa repa. This is different than cornmeal. It is like cornmeal that are used to make tortillas. Arepas, though, are made from a pre-cooked ground corn that makes the arepa fluffy. This recipe is super easy to make at home.
From there, we are gonna smother that in carnitas from jackfruit, lime cooked corn, avocado slices, and a delicious roasted poblano tahini sauce that rounds the flavor like WA BAM! These carnitas are juicy because we cook them down in a orange and vegetable broth so they are packed full of flavor. The lime corn adds a great bite and acid, and the poblano sauce takes the flavors to the next frikin level.
This dish is handheld joy is worth the work!!
Let's get into it.
Arepas
2 cups water
2 cups masarepa flour (precooked cornmeal)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons avocado oil (can sub any other flavorful oil)
Jackfruit Carnitas
1 tbl olive oil
1 medium shallot, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
2 20oz cans jackfruit
Spices: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/3 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 tbl oregano, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp coriander
1 cup veg broth
1 orange, juiced
Lime Corn
2 corn cobs, dekerneled
1 lime, juiced
1.5 tbl vegan butter
pinch of salt + pepper
Roasted Poblano Sauce
1 medium poblano, raw
2 tbl tahini
1 lime, juiced
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce + 2 tbl of adobo sauce
pinch of salt + pepper
Other
cilantro, diced
2 avocados, cut into slices
Equipment You'll Need:
Cutting Board . Sharp Cutting Knife . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Parchment Paper . Wooden Spoon . Mixing Bowls . Medium Frying Pan . Large Frying Pan . Small Castiron Pan . Food Processor
Before You Cook:
Wash and cut all fresh ingredients
1. Start by mixing together the dry ingredients for the arepas in a mixing bowl. Form a well in the middle and start to pour in the water slowly. As you are pouring, mix it with a wooden spoon slowly.
2. Once you are done stirring the mixture its should be a nice fluffy dense mixture that sticks together. If it seems too crumbly, add in more water. Let it sit aside for 10-15 minutes before we make the arepas.
3. Next, we turn to the carnitas. Add the shallots, garlic, and jalapeno to a large pan with the olive oil. Cook it for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Then add in the jackfruit (make sure its drained) + spices. Mix well. Cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add in the broth + orange juice, turn your heat to low once it starts to simmer, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes. You want to cook it until the jackfruit is really soft and starts to break down, but you want it to have some firmness left so that its not soggy. It should be stringy and broken down.
5. While the jackfruit cooks, add all the ingredients for the lime corn to a medium pan. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the corn starts to brown.
6. While the corn cooks + jackfruit, add a full poblano to a dry pan (I prefer castiron). Turn it on medium heat and let the poblano char on each side for 2-3 minutes. You want it to be pretty blackened on each side.
7. At this point, I leave the corn to cook, the jackfruit to cook, and monitor my pepper. While there is a break in the action, form your corn arepas into balls that are slightly larger than golf balls almost like pool ball size. Once the corn is don, set aside. Once the poblano is charred, set aside.
8. After the lime corn is done, reuse the pan for the arepas. Add some oil to the pan, heat it over medium heat. Flatten your arepas down (I use my hand to form it to a flat arepa) to about 1/2 inch thick. Cook them in two batches on the medium pan. Cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes until browning.
9. With the charred poblano, add that to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Turn on for 20 seconds. Scrape down sides and blend again for 10 seconds. Set aside.
10. At this point, check on your carnitas. They should be done. To form the arepa, slice like a pita pocket and layer in the ingredients with carnitas on the bottom, 1/4 the lime corn, 1/2 avocado sliced, and 1/4 the poblano sauce. It will be pretty packed and gets messy but that's the beauty of it! Enjoy!
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