The World’s Crispiest Egg May Be This Corn-Encrusted Colombian Snack

I live in a Queens neighborhood with a sizable Colombian community. There are two Colombian restaurants and a bakery on three of my block’s four street corners, and dozens more on all the blocks beyond that. If I tripped, I’d land face-first on an arepa.

But one arepa I don’t see too often even in my neighborhood is an arepa de huevo—a deep-fried corn cake with an egg inside. The beauty of the area de huevo, aside from its flavor, is the range of textures you get from it: potato-chip crisp on the outside, tender (even runny) egg within. I’m at a loss to think of a crispier egg preparation.

A popular breakfast and snack food on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, arepas de huevo are easy to make at home with just a little practice. I first learned to make them about twenty years ago, when the Colombian mother of an ex of mine taught me during a visit. I fell for them immediately, and started frying arepa after arepa, both because I wanted to keep eating them, but also because I was having a lot of fun messing around with the yolk doneness levels. There’s no right way to cook the egg: Some people, including my ex’s mom, like them fully cooked through with a set yolk, but others (like me) love the self-saucing effect of an arepa de huevo with a drippy center.

The process for making them is pretty straightforward. You start by mixing water with masarepa, a pre-cooked corn flour product that is commonly used to make arepas. Then you form that dough into balls, press them flat, and fry them until puffed. After that, you take the arepa out of the oil, let it cool for a minute, then carefully slice a hole in the side near one of the edges. Into this hole you slip a raw egg. Then it goes back into the oil to fry just long enough to cook the egg to your desired doneness.

How to Make Arepas de Huevo

The process, as noted above, is straightforward:

1. Mix water with masarepa.
2. Form the dough into balls, press them flat, and fry them until puffed.
3. Remove from the oil, let cool slightly, then cut a small hole near the edge.
4. Slip in a raw egg, then fry again to cook the egg to your liking.

Here are some tips to guide you through the process:

• Yellow and white masarepa work equally well. Masarepa is sold in both yellow and white variants, depending on the corn used, but the difference is primarily visual. I find the yellow color more striking when fried until crisp and cradling that golden yolk.
• Press the arepas between plastic for ease. This is common technique with tortillas as well, just slice open a zipper-lock bag on two sides and sandwich the ball of arepa dough between it. Then fold the flap of plastic over and press the arepa flat using either a tortilla press or a heavy, flat object like the bottom of a skillet. You can wash and save the plastic between uses.
• Adjust water as needed. If your dough cracks or crumbles, work in more water, one tablespoon at a time until the dough is a bit more malleable and friendly.
• Smooth the arepa edges. After pressing the arepa, it will usually have a jagged edge. Smoothing this edge out will help the arepa fry and inflate evenly. You can do this either with a fingernail through the plastic, or with a wet finger directly on the arepa edge itself.
• Don’t make them too large and thin. Without gluten for elasticity, the dough can tear easily. Keep them around three inches in diameter and just under 1/4 inch thick for easy handling. If one falls apart, you can roll it back into a ball and start over.

The arepas don’t necessarily need anything extra—they’re delicious on their own, maybe with a coffee on the side. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add condiments: hot sauce, Colombian ají (a fresh salsa served with many foods), and salsa rosada (a mix of mayo and ketchup) are all great options.

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