Puerto Rican Rice Recipes

ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE)

Steps:

• Rinse rice well in water and set aside.
• In a medium caldero or large pot (about 6 quarts or so), heat oil and sauté sofrito until softened. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Stir in gandules, alcaparrado, all of the spices and 4 cups of water. Taste and readjust seasonings, adding additional salt 1 teaspoon at a time. Broth should be heavily seasoned and on the salty side.
• Bring to a rapid boil, then add rice and stir. You may need to add more water to ensure rice is covered by 1 inch of water. Reduce heat to a soft boil and let most of the liquid absorb and evaporate, stirring occasionally, very gently, so rice does not turn gummy.
• Carefully mound rice towards center of pot, top with foil and cover with lid. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stir by folding rice from the bottom up, but do not disturb bottom of pan. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, testing after 20 to see if rice is tender and cooked through.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• 1. Heat a large heavy bottomed pot, or a caldero if you have one, over medium heat. If using ham or bacon, slowly cook the meat until crispy, remove meat from pot and set aside leaving the drippings. If not using meat, add olive oil before continuing with the next step. 2. Then, add the gandules, tomato sauce, green olives, sofrito, salt, adobo seasoning, sazon, ground black pepper and ground cumin. Stir to fully combine. 3. Once the mixture becomes fragrant, pour in the water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the rice. Stir until rice is submerged and pigeon peas are distributed evenly. 4. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 25 minutes. You can add your ham or bacon back in now if you want, or wait to add it in again before serving. Traditionally the rice would be covered with a banana or plantain leaf. However, a tight fitting pot lid will work just fine! 5. About half way through cooking, remove the lid and stir, making sure to scrape up any rice stuck at the bottom of the pan. This is a very touchy subject - some Puerto Ricans insist that you don't stir the rice while cooking. That the crispy bottom bites are the best part! While others would prefer more evenly cooked rice. Whatever you do, if you do stir the rice, make sure you only do it once or the rice can become sticky. 6. After simmering for 25 minutes, remove the arroz con gandules from the heat and let it sit for an additional 30 minutes before serving. This is called letting the rice "steam". The rice is done once all the liquid is absorbed. 7. After letting the rice rest for about a half hour, remove the lid. Fluff and stir the rice, then serve warm with fresh cilantro, if desired.

PUERTO RICAN RICE AND BEANS

Steps:

• Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add pork and saute until browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and heat until fragrant. Add gandules, recaito, sazon seasoning, and olives. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add rice to the pot and stir to coat. Add 1 1/2 cans' worth of water; bring to a boil and cover. Simmer until rice has absorbed most of the liquid and formed a "crust" on the bottom, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir mixture near the top, avoiding the crust, after 20 minutes.

PUERTO RICAN WHITE RICE

Steps:

• Stir rice and water into a medium pot with lid. Bring to a boil.
• Add salt and oil. Keep mixture at a gentle boil until rice is dry (it will not be tender). Use a mixing spoon to form a heap with the rice in the center of the pot.
• Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
• Remove lid every 5 minutes to stir and sample rice. Rice will form a crust on the bottom of the pot if not stirred often.
• When rice is steamed to your liking, stir one last time to fluff; serve.

AUTHENTIC PUERTO RICAN RICE AND BEANS

Steps:

• Made by Goya brand and can be found in the Spanish/Latin section of your grocery store Cook white rice as instructions on package of rice say to (5 minute rice is perfectly fine).
• make sure when you are done cooking to let excess water out of rice.
• In saucepan, heat oil on low-medium heat and put in the ham, salted pork, or Canadian bacon.
• once it starts to sizzle, add the garlic powder and Adobo seasoning.
• Then add the Sofrito and Sazon con Azafran seasoning, stir.
• Next add red beans (drain most of liquid, just a little bit is needed to pull the sauce together).
• Mix and serve.
• (in Puerto Rico, it is traditional to serve rice and beans with almost every meal, but mainly with pork chops (cooked with a little sofrito and adobo seasoning) on the side).
• Enjoy (a wonderful recipe straight from the island).