Red Rice
Red rice is a staple in Mexican cuisine and is prepared almost every day in Mexican households. There are many different ways in preparing this side dish. Some recipes use butter or lard instead of oil. Some have no peas or carrots in them. Some serve the rice with a fried egg on top. Play around with this recipe to your liking. This is a very basic version of red rice. There are a few steps that are critical to the end results of your rice. The first is to make sure that you soak the rice in warm water first for 5 minutes. This will help remove a lot of the excess starch. Next is to fry your rice until it is golden brown. The purpose of doing this helps keep the rice from sticking together. Once you add all of the liquid and cover the pot, it is very important to keep the lid on at all times and not stir the rice. Just let it be. Not touching the rice allows it to not be mushy.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup white rice
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 1/4 white onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots defrosted
- 1 serrano pepper sliced paper thin
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, add tomatoes, onion, and garlic.
- Purée and set aside.
- Soak the rice in warm water for 5 minutes, then rinse.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the rice. Fry for 8-10 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add in the tomato purée. Cook for 5 minutes. Give it a few stirs.
- Add in the chicken stock, peas and carrots, Serrano pepper, ans salt. Give it a stir. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from heat, leaving the cover on. Do not stir. Let rest for 10 more minutes. After that, you can fluffwith a fork and serve.
