Chef notes
Back in my country, Mexican rice is the kind of recipe that you can call comfort food. This is what I want to cook and eat whenever I'm feeling homesick. As a kid, I used to avoid eating the peas in this dish, but now I love them.
Technique tip: The secret to fluffy rice is to let it cook unmoved; moving the rice breaks the grain and releases the starch, which makes it sticky.
Swap option: You can use other vegetables as green beans, potatoes, peppers or corn to enrich a Mexican rice.
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 small bunch cilantro, cleaned and chopped
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1/2 cup diced carrot, previously par-boiled in water
- 1/2 cup peas, previously par-boiled in water
Preparation
1.Cook tomatoes, onion and garlic in a dry pan until charred and soft.
2.Transfer the tomato mixture to a blender with vegetable stock, salt and pepper. Process until smooth.
3.Wash rice in a strainer under cold running water, moving it around with your hands until the water runs clear, then drain.
4.Heat oil in a pan and add rice. Cook while moving, until rice turns opaque.
5.Add 2 cups of the tomato sauce and stir once. Add cilantro, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook rice for 20 minutes, uncovering for the last 5 minutes.
6.While rice is cooking, melt butter in a pan and cook vegetables until golden-brown. Season with salt and pepper.
7.Stir the vegetables into the rice and serve warm.
