Recipe: Pabellón Criollo

The “Pabellón Criollo”, it the most traditional Venezuelan dish after the Arepas.  Pabellón is a word for “pavilion”, but it can also mean the national flag, an ensign, or even a tent.   The Pabellón Criollo, the traditional Venezuelan dish is made up of shredded (or pulled) beef, black beans, rice and fried plantains, as the most basic version of it.   Some people, depending on the part of the country, also add a plain arepa on the side, some avocadoes, some delicious grated white cheese and even a fried egg.  When fried plantains are added, it is known as the “Pabellón con Baranda”.

This dish is our national dish, but it originated in Caracas, the capital city.  People believe this dish is closely related to Venezuelan history and our miscegenation.  This is reflected on the colors of each main component in the dish, black beans, white rice and brown beef.  These three colors symbolize the union of the three races: African, European and indigenous.

We can find Pabellón Criollo in any part of the country, and we even use it to fill our empanadas and arepas.  But we only use the black beans, beef, and plantains to fill those.

Recipes for main components:

- Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded/Pulled Beef)
- Caraotas Negras (Venezuelan Black Beans)
- Arroz Blanco (Venezuelan White Rice)
- Tajadas (Venezuelan Fried Plantains)

Preparation:

1. Make sure you soak the black beans overnight!
2. Prepare the shredded/pulled beef first, as this will take the longest to cook (4 hours).
3. When the beef has been cooking for about 1½ to 2 hours already, begin to cook the black beans (this will take 2 hours).
4. Proceed to remove the beef from the boiling water.  Shred/pull the beef and continue cooking as directed on the recipe (adding the sofrito and stir frying it).
5. Proceed to finish the black beans recipe as well.
6. Set the beef and beans aside, and begin cooking the rice.
7. Make the plantains while the rice is cooking.
8. Finish the rice and the plantains.
9. Serve all together.

Pabellón Criollo Venezolano

Pabellón con Baranda

Tip

- For a fancier presentation of this delicious dish, you can create a Pabellón Criollo tower:

1. Place an oiled pastry ring in the middle of the plate.
2. Add a layer of rice, a layer of black beans, and a layer of beef in equal parts (about one third of the rings height).
3. Top with plantain circles, alternated with cheese or avocado.
4. Decorate with herbs.

Pabellón Criollo Tower

Pabellón Criollo Fancy

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded/Pulled Beef)

Venezuelan Carne Mechada, Carne Esmechada, or Carne Desmechada, is what you know as shredded or pulled beef.   Some people call it “Ropa Vieja”, which literally translates to “Old Clothes”.   Some others call it “Vaca Frita”, which literally translates to “Fried Cow”.   But we simply call it Carne Mechada, which literally translates to Shredded or Pulled Beef.   This is the main component in the most traditional Venezuelan dish, the Pabellón Criollo.   However, Carne Mechada is also used to stuff arepas, empanadas, pastelitos, and even Cachapas.

What you need:

Ingredients to Boil the Steak

To boil the beef
- 2 lbs. Flank Steak
- 8 Cups of Water (or enough to cover the beef)
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 Stick Green Onion
- 1 Peppermint or Spearmint Leaf
- 1 or 2 Sprigs of Parsley
- 1 or 2 Sticks of Celery
- ½ Onion
- ½ Red Bell Pepper

Ingredients for the Sofrito

Sofrito
- 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ Onions
- 1 ½ Bell Peppers
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 3 ½ “Ajíes Dulces” (Sweet Habanero or Yellow Lantern Chili Pepper)
- 2 Tomatoes
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper
- 1 or 2 Sprigs of Cilantro
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

Preparation:

1. Cut the Flank Steak in 2 or 4 pieces so they fit in your pot.

Flank Steak / Falda

Cut Steak into 4 Parts

2. In a large enough pot, place the Flank Steak and cover with enough water.
3. Add the salt, green onion, peppermint, parsley, celery, onion and bell pepper.
4. Cover and cook for about 4 hours at medium heat until the steak softens.

Cook for About 4 Hours

5. Remove from heat, take the steak out of the pot, place in a baking sheet and let it cool for a little bit (You can use the remaining beef stock for other preparations).
6. Once the beef is cool enough to handle, start shredding or pulling it.   Be sure to pick out the fat and hard parts of the beef at this point.

Shred / Pull Beef

7. In a large enough pot, add the oil, and sauté the rest of the onion, the bell pepper the garlic and ajíes cut in Juliennes, for about 5 minutes.

Sauté Ingredients for the Sofrito

8. Add the beef to this sauté mixture and continue to sauté for about 3 minutes.

Add the Beef to the Sofrito

9. Add the tomatoes, the pepper, the cilantro, and the soy sauce.
10. Taste everything to make sure you don’t need more salt or soy sauce.
11. Cook at low heat for about 15 minutes.   You may also add a bit of the beef stock and cook at medium heat until the liquid is reduced.

Carne Mechada (Venezuelan Shredded/Pulled Beef)

*Makes 4 servings.

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Caraotas Negras (Venezuelan Black Beans)

Venezuelan Black Beans are nothing like your typical Mexican Black Beans.   For starters, they are not spicy at all.   We usually serve them as a side, but we also eat them in soups, as a filling for our famous Arepas, refried, mixed in with white rice, with Queso Blanco on top, and even with sugar on top.   However, they are always present in the traditional Venezuelan Dish, Pabellón Criollo.

Ingredients

What you need:

- 5 Cups of Water
- 1 Cup of Black Beans (washed and strained)
- ½ Red Bell Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon of Oil
- ½ Onion
- 1 ½ “Ajíes Dulces” (Sweet Habanero or Yellow Lantern Chilli)
- ½ Garlic Head
- ½ Tablespoon Cumin

Preparation:

1. Make sure to pick out “bad” Black Beans and little rocks or other impurities from your cup of Black Beans and wash them as well.

Black Beans

Pick Out "Bad" Beans

2. In a large enough pot, add the cup of Black Beans and add the water to them.
3. Let them soak for a maximum of 12 hours and a minimum of 5 hours. (I highlight this step so you remember you have to do this the night before.

Soak Overnight

4. In the same pot that they have been soaking (if you soaked in a pot, not a bowl like I did), add the bell pepper and cook at a medium heat, covered, for about an hour and a half or until they become soften. Add the salt.

Add Bell Peppers

Cook

5. In a different pan make the “sofrito” by frying the onion, the ajíes and the garlic with the oil until they turn brown (about 5 minutes).
6. Add the cumin, stir, and remove from the heat.
7. Add the “sofrito” to the pot where the Black Beans are cooking and reduce the heat.   Let this cook for another 10 minutes, or until the liquid has almost completely evaporated (depending if you will be serving them as a side or as a soup).   However, it is recommended to leave a bit of the liquid so they taste better.

Caraotas Negras (Venezuelan Black Beans)

Tips

- If you wish to refry your leftover black beans, simply sauté them with one or two tablespoons of oil until they become dry and shinny.   Top with Queso Blanco.

*Makes 4 servings.

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Arroz Blanco Venezolano (Venezuelan White Rice)

White rice is white rice, right? Wrong! This cereal is common in all countries and cultures, but each one eats it differently.   My favorite is any kind of Asian rice preparation, because I like the mushy-sushi style rice.   However, that is not usually how Venezuelans prepare it or prefer it.   Rice is one of the most consumed products in Venezuela, because it is the cereal with the most protein content and the least fat content.   It also absorbs flavors of other ingredients pretty easily so most people use it often in all their dishes and preparations.   The most common type is the white long grain type, and it is usually served as a side in beef, chicken and fish dishes, as well as inside soups, and we even make a drink out of it, Chicha.

Ingredients for Venezuelan White Rice

What you need:

- 1 Cup White Rice
- 2 Cups Water
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Oil
- 1 Garlic Clove (minced)
- ½ Medium Onion diced in two
- 1/8 Green Bell Pepper in strips
- 1/8 Red Bell Pepper in strips

Preparation:

1. You can prepare the rice in two different ways.

Option 1:

- Add the water, salt, oil, garlic, onion, and bell peppers in a large enough pot.   Cook in high heat until the water is boiling, and then add the rice.   Stir everything together and let it cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until the water has almost completely evaporated.

Option 2 (Pictured):

- Add the salt, oil, garlic, onion, bell peppers and rice into a large enough pot.   Stir-fry all the ingredients on high heat, and then as they brown, add the water.   Bring to a boil, and then cook until the water has almost completely evaporated.

Stir-Fry Rice with Salt, Oil, Garlic, Onion and Bell Peppers

*I usually prefer option 2.

Bring to A Boil

2. Turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the rice is soft, dry and loose/fluffy.

Remove Bell Peppers and Onions

3. Remove the pot from the heat, and remove all the big pieces of onion and bell peppers.
4. Serve with butter on top and enjoy.

Press On To Container

Flip On To Plate

Slowly Remove Container

Venezuelan White Rice

Tips

- Always stir rice with a fork and not a wooden spoon, because the wooden spoon will make it stick to itself, and it will end up being sushi/mushy rice.
- For the perfect rice consistency you can add a little bit of limejuice or a little bit of white vinegar.
- My dad used to serve us little “mountains” of rice.   Just grab a small enough bowl or container, then wet it or grease it with butter, press the rice onto the bowl, and flip it on the dish you are going to serve it.   You can also decorate with little herbs on top.

Some Venezuelan Brands of White Rice include Arroz Mary and Arroz Santa Ana.

¡Buen Provecho!

Recipe: Venezuelan Tajadas (Fried Plantains)

Tajadas are slices of plantains that are fried.   They are served usually as a side, and they are also used to make other dishes like plantain desserts.   They are also a part of the traditional Venezuelan dish, the “Pabellón Criollo”.

Ripe | Yellow Plantain

Ingredients
- 1 Ripe/yellow plantain
- 1 Cup vegetable oil – or as needed (for frying)
- Paper towels

Preparation

1. Pour the vegetable oil in a large enough pan and turn on the stove to medium heat, so the oil starts heating up while you prepare the plantains.
2. Cut the two ends of the plantain and make an incision with a knife along the side.

Cut Ends

3. Remove the skin.

Remove The Skin and Cut In Half

4. Cut the plantain in half.   You can make a straight/down the middle kind of cut, like I did here, or a slanted cut to have more oval like tajadas instead of what I did, which are more rectangular Tajadas. If you cut them in the slanted way, they look better, but the flavor is the same. Check out the slanted ones here (text is in Spanish, though).
5. Now make about 4 slices out of each side of the plantain by slicing them sideways, to form slices of about 0.25 – 0.75 inches.   Don’t make them thicker than that.

Make Slices

6. Lay the plantains on the frying pan and begin to fry them until they are golden brown, turning them if necessary, to fry both sides equally. It took me about 2 minutes per side.

Fry the Plantain Slices

7. Remove the tajadas from the pan one by one and lay on top of a paper towel to remove the excess oil.

Remove Excess Oil

8. Serve and enjoy!

Venezuelan Tajadas

*One plantain makes about 8 Tajadas (depending on how thick you slice them).   This is a good serving for just 2 people.

¡Buen Provecho!

More Delicious Arepa Fillings (Rellenos)

As it turns out, I actually needed more than 4 posts to cover everything there is to know about our delicious Venezuelan Arepas.   So here are some more ideas for delicious arepa fillings. Some of them even have unique names that sort of describe the filling or stuffing in one way or another.   This is probably because we Venezuelans would take too long at an Arepera (Arepa Restaurant) ordering an arepa, trying to decide which of the 20 different fillings to get inside of it.   So then, if we say “Una de Pabellón”, de Arepera knows what we mean.

De Pabellón 

De Pabellón

The “Pabellón”, it the most traditional dish after the Arepas.   Somehow, someone decided to combine the two most traditional Venezuelan dishes into one, making an arepa stuffed with the second dish, Pabellón.   Pabellón is a word for “pavilion”, but it can also mean the national flag, an ensign, or even a tent.   The Pabellón Criollo, the traditional Venezuelan dish is made up of shredded (or pulled) beef, black beans, rice and fried plantains, as the most basic version of it.   Some people, depending on the part of the country, also add a plain arepa on the side, some avocadoes, some delicious grated white cheese and even a fried egg.   Of course that would be way to much stuff to put inside an Arepa, so the basic Arepa de Pabellón simply includes shredded beef, black beans, and fried plantains.

La Dominó
Just like the traditional game of domino’s black and white chips, this arepa has a black and white stuffing or filling.   The Dominó Arepa includes black beans and grated white cheese.

La Dominó

La Viuda (The Widow)
This arepa is a plain and empty arepa.   Usually served as a “side” to other dishes like the Pabellón Criollo, or a delicious fried egg breakfast.

La Pelúa (The Hairy One)
Don’t panic! This arepa doesn’t have any hair.   The filling on this Arepa consists of shredded or pulled beef and Gouda cheese.

La Catira (The Blond One)
This Arepa has more fun! The filling is made up of shredded chicken and Gouda cheese.

La Sifrina (The Snobby One)
This Arepa is too good for you! The filling is the same as the Reinapepiada, but it also has Gouda cheese.

La Rumbera (The Party One)
This arepa is for the 3AM after party munchies.   The filling is Pork and Gouda cheese.

La Rumbera

La Musiua (The “Monsier” One)
This arepa is a burger.   Literally.   It has a burger patty, tomatoes, onions and lettuce, minus the burger buns, inside an Arepa.   I have never had this myself, but it just doesn’t sound right.

La Bomba (The Bomb)
This arepa IS the BOMB! Filled with Perico and Black Beans.

La Pata-Pata
Filled with black beans, Gouda cheese and avocado

De Carne Mechada (Pulled/Shredded Beef)
Filled with delicious shredded beef, just like the one served on the Pabellón dish. 

De Carne Mechada

De Guasacaca
Stuffed with Guasacaca and white cheese.

De Carne Molida
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with ground beef.

De Pernil
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with roast pork.

De Pernil

De Jamón y Queso
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with ham and cheese.

De Pollo
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with pulled chicken.

De Chorizo
Just like the name says it; this one is stuffed with Spanish Sausage or Chorizo.

De Cazón
Just like the name says it, this one is stuffed with Cazón… what is cazón? Cazón is a small shark, and this is one of my favorites because it is a popular one in the town where I was born, Puerto La Cruz.

Arepa Filling Faux-Pau
Do not by any means use any of these fillings in front of a Venezuelan:

- Peanut butter
- Jelly
- Jam
- Ketchup
- BBQ sauce

¡Buen Provecho!

*Thank you to Flickr photographers who share their photos with Creative Commons licenses.