Recipes With Masa Harina?

[OhioTom76]

I was hoping to make some arepas recently, so I ordered what I thought was the proper type of cooked corn flour to make them - Bob's Red Mill brand Masa Harina. However I have since found out this is not the right stuff. The most recommended brand was called "P.A.N.", but the places I was trying to buy it from online were all out of stock. In addition, a company I was checking out, iHerb, had a $5 off offer and they didn't carry it either, but had the Bob's Red Mill stuff.

Basically, from what I've gathered, the stuff I bought is for making tortillas and chips - not Arepas. I sort of noticed this when I tried out an arepa recipe with it and they failed to puff up, and came out very dense and heavy. I ate them, but they weren't very pleasant.

I know I can add this stuff to chili to thicken it, and I'm already aware of tamales. But are there any other recipes this stuff can be used in? It kind of seems like it might be interesting as a breading on fried veggies maybe - but I haven't tried that yet.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Don't take this the wrong way please, I'm sure you must often feel the same, but sometimes whilst I know we speak the same language I am utterly lost and have had to resort to looking up "Masa Harina" to even know what you are going on about :!:

For those of us not knowing what Masa Harina is, i have found this description from here (how stuff works)

Masa harina is the traditional flour used to make tortillas, tamales, and other Mexican dishes. Literally translated from Spanish, it means "dough flour," because the flour is made from dried masa, a dough from specially treated corn.

To make masa harina, field corn (or maize) is dried and then treated in a solution of lime and water, also called slaked lime. This loosens the hulls from the kernels and softens the corn. In addition, the lime reacts with the corn so that the nutrient niacin can be assimilated by the digestive tract.

The soaked maize is then washed, and the wet corn is ground into a dough, called masa. It is this fresh masa, when dried and powdered, that becomes masa harina. (Add water once again to make dough for tortillas or tamales.)

Fresh masa is available in Mexican markets, refrigerated and sold by the pound. But masa harina is a fine substitute. Availability and your personal taste determine whether you start with fresh or dried masa.

Do not substitute corn meal or regular corn flour, however; they're produced from different types of corn and are processed differently. They will not produce the same results. Regular wheat flour also cannot be substituted

Challenge number 2.. What are Arepa?

Arepas are a staple food in both Venezuela and Colombia. Arepas are corn cakes that are made from a special precooked corn flour.

Looking at the recipes to create these arepa, I have found a variety of interesting sites and can't help feeling that one i am back on my feet, my griddle might just get used to make some.

Whilst I know I am not answering what you can do with the flour you have purchased, these sites appear to be the most interesting for making Arepas, especially the first site.

Latin American Cuisine: Colombian Arepas

How to Cook Arepas

They appear for all intents and purposes to be a corn made pitta bread!