Embark on a culinary journey to the heart of Puerto Rican cuisine with our delectable Arroz con Gandules. This traditional dish, also known as rice with pigeon peas, is a vibrant symphony of flavors and textures that will tantalize your taste buds. Discover the secrets behind the perfect Arroz con Gandules, from selecting the finest ingredients to mastering the art of sofrito, the flavorful sofrito that forms the aromatic base of this beloved dish.
Delight in two variations of Arroz con Gandules, each offering a unique twist on this classic recipe. The traditional version showcases the harmonious blend of pigeon peas, sofrito, and sazón, while the vegetarian variation offers a meatless alternative that is equally satisfying. Both recipes are complemented by a comprehensive guide to preparing the essential sofrito, ensuring that your Arroz con Gandules bursts with authentic Puerto Rican flavor.
Immerse yourself in the rich culinary heritage of Puerto Rico as you explore the history and cultural significance of Arroz con Gandules. Learn about the role it plays in traditional celebrations and gatherings, and discover how this dish has become an emblem of Puerto Rican identity. Enhance your understanding of the ingredients and techniques used in Arroz con Gandules, and gain insights into the culinary traditions that have shaped this beloved dish.
Whether you're a seasoned cook or a novice in the kitchen, our comprehensive guide to Arroz con Gandules will empower you to create this flavorful dish in your own home. With step-by-step instructions, detailed ingredient lists, and helpful tips, you'll be able to confidently prepare this Puerto Rican masterpiece and impress your family and friends with your culinary skills.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)
Feed a crowd with this authentic Arroz con Gandules recipe, which was handed down to me from my mom. It's a staple with the "familia" at all our gatherings. -Evelyn Robles, Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Side Dishes
Time 45m
Yield 18 servings (3/4 cup each).
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- In a Dutch oven, cook Sofrito in oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add rice and sazon; cook and stir until rice is lightly toasted, 3-4 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until rice is tender, 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 220 calories, Fat 5g fat (1g saturated fat), Cholesterol 14mg cholesterol, Sodium 537mg sodium, Carbohydrate 38g carbohydrate (1g sugars, Fiber 2g fiber), Protein 6g protein.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (PIGEON PEAS RICE)
This delicious rice is the side dish of choice at every Dominican and Puerto Rican holiday dinner. Made with pigeon peas and a mixture of Latin seasonings, this popular rice dish is perfect for Nochebuena.
Provided by Vanessa
Categories Side Dish
Time 35m
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- In a food processor, pulse the onion, bell pepper, garlic and cilantro until all is chopped very small to make the sofrito.
- In a large cast-iron pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute the sofrito mixture, tomato sauce, chicken bouillon cubes, sazon, oregano, adobo, black pepper and alcaparrado for about 2-3 minutes until vegetables begin to release aroma.
- Add the pigeon peas with it's liquid and 2 cups of water. When the water begins to boil, add the rice, stirring occasionally to avoid from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the rice has soaked up all the water and begins to dry up, lower the heat to low. Cover and let cook for 25 minutes. Then, stir the rice carefully and cover for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 375 kcal, Carbohydrate 70 g, Protein 9 g, Fat 6 g, SaturatedFat 4 g, Sodium 100 mg, Fiber 5 g, Sugar 1 g, ServingSize 1 serving
RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS - ARROZ CON GANDULES
This is one of my favorite Puerto Rican rice recipe. I love pigeon peas. You can find sazon and pigeon peas in the hispanic section of the grocery store. Pigeon Peas are Puerto Rico's national dish. This recipe is from About.com.
Provided by 1PugMom2
Categories One Dish Meal
Time 55m
Yield 4-6 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 7
Steps:
- 1. Heat olive oil in a 6-quart pot. Saute the sofrito and chopped ham for 1 minute.
- 2.Add the rice, water, sazon and pigeon peas.
- 3.Bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
- 4.Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.
- TIP: Do not use a lid with a vent that allows the steam to escape.
- Never lift the lid while cooking.
- 5.When finished cooking, stir the rice before serving. It should be light and fluffy.
EASY RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS/ARROZ CON GANDULES
We usually dont measure our stuff out. Most puerto rican chef's cook from memory, adding ingredients until we get the taste we prefer. I tried to get this as close as I possibly could. Enjoy! Por lo general dont medida de nuestras cosas. La mayor parte de Puerto Rico del chef cocción de la memoria, añadiendo ingredientes hasta obtener el sabor que prefiera. Traté de hacer esta tan cerca como yo podía. Disfrutar!
Provided by CarribeQueen
Categories Long Grain Rice
Time 35m
Yield 8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- *Rinse the rice in a bowl with warm water.
- *In a large pot, add water and all items except rice.
- *Bring to boil, and let it boil for about 3 minutes. (I usually taste it and add more seasoning to taste if needed).
- *Add rice and let it continue to boil for about 2 minutes.
- *Turn heat to low, and place tight fitting lid over pot.
- *Check periodically, cook until liquid is absorbed. Stir once, remove from heat, replace lid and let it stand for about 5 minutes.
- This usually serves our household of seven.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)
Steps:
- Heat your caldero or Dutch oven to medium heat, and add your olive oil, bacon/ham (if using) and sofrito. Stir constantly until fragrant and tender, but not browned, about 4 minutes.
- Next add in the Sazon, tomato sauce or paste and chicken bouillon. Stir to combine.
- Add in the drained pigeon peas, Italian seasoning or oregano, bay leaves, and water/broth. Add the cilantro and/or olives, if using. Allow the liquid to come up to a boil, and taste it for salt. If it needs more saltiness, add in another chicken bouillon cube. You want this liquid to be highly seasoned, as it will determine the final seasoning of the rice.
- Once the mixture is boiling, add the rice. Stir the rice to get it submerged and distribute the pigeon peas throughout.
- Cover and allow the rice to absorb all the visible liquid. Once most of the visible surface liquid is absorbed, stir the rice, and cover again. Lower the flame to low, and allow it to steam for 20-25 minutes. It's done with all the liquid is absorbed and the grains are fluffy and fully cooked.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)
Every step and ingredient adds something important to this recipe from the Puerto Rican-born chef and writer Reina Gascón-López. Annatto seeds steeped in oil give the rice its signature marigold hue. The banana leaf imparts a subtle tropical aroma to the rice as it cooks. Olives, ham, beer and peppers with their brine offer salt, fat, acid, umami and a bright pop of color. The sheer number of flavors layered into this dish make it a delight to unpack. The most exhilarating layer is the last one: pegao, the crisp, glassy shards of rice at the bottom of the pot. Gandules (pigeon peas) make this version of rice and beans distinctly Caribbean. Ms. Gascón-López prefers to start with dry gandules, which her family sometimes ships to her from Puerto Rico, then flavors the pot with some sofrito, a bay leaf or two and a smoked pork neck. If you have trouble finding dry pigeon peas, they are often labeled as toor at Indian grocery stores.
Provided by Samin Nosrat
Categories dinner, grains and rice, vegetables, main course
Time 1h30m
Yield 4 to 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 24
Steps:
- Lay 1 banana leaf (or more, if needed) flat on a large cutting board, then set the lid of a large Dutch oven or similar pot on top. Use a paring knife to trace around the lid, and cut the leaf (or leaves) so that they will fit properly inside the pot. Cover with a clean dishcloth and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, cook the neutral oil and annatto seeds over medium heat, allowing the seeds to infuse the oil. After 2 to 3 minutes, when the oil begins to bubble and the seeds start to crackle, turn off the heat and allow the oil to cool completely. Pour the cool oil through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving seeds for another round of infusing, if desired.
- Make the sofrito: Use a food processor or high-speed blender to pulse the onion, red and green bell peppers, cubanelle pepper, garlic, cilantro, scallions, ají dulce peppers (if using) and culantro (if using), adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if needed to achieve a smooth, salsa-like consistency. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon sazón and set aside. (The sofrito makes about 2 cups. Refrigerate it for up to 5 days or portion it into ice cube trays or plastic containers, and freeze up to 6 months.)
- Set the large Dutch oven or similar pot over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons annatto oil and the ham or fatback. Sauté until crisp and most of the fat has rendered, about 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sofrito, the olives and 1 tablespoon sazón, stirring until sofrito is fragrant, about 3 minutes.
- Next, add pigeon peas and sauté for another 3 minutes. Season with adobo, salt and black pepper to taste.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add rice, stirring until grains are all coated, seasoned and starting to toast. If there isn't enough oil to generously coat all of the rice and peas in the pot, add the remaining tablespoon of annatto oil. This will help form a delicious golden bottom crust called pegao.
- Once the rice is toasted, stir in the beer and cook for about 3 minutes, then add the reserved pigeon-pea liquid (or 2 1/2 cups water) and roasted red pepper brine. Taste the cooking liquid and adjust salt as needed; it should be pleasantly salty.
- Gently stir rice, then spread about half the thinly sliced roasted red pepper over the rice. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover rice with prepared banana leaves, then cover pot with its lid and cook for 22 minutes.
- Once the time has passed, remove the lid, open the banana leaves and gently fold the rice onto itself from the outside in to form a mound in the center of the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, replace banana leaves and lid and continue cooking for 20 to 25 minutes to allow pegao to form at the bottom of the pot.
- To serve, spoon rice atop a platter layered with fresh banana leaves. Garnish with remaining sliced roasted peppers. Use a metal spatula to scrape pegao out of the pot and serve on a separate plate. Be careful, because everyone will fight over it!
Tips:
- To make the rice more flavorful, use a good quality chicken broth or stock.
- If you don't have pigeon peas, you can substitute another type of bean, such as black beans or kidney beans.
- To make the rice more colorful, add some chopped red bell pepper or carrots.
- If you like spicy food, add a pinch of cayenne pepper or chili powder.
- Serve the rice with your favorite protein and vegetables.
Conclusion:
Arroz con gandules is a delicious and easy-to-make Puerto Rican dish that is perfect for any occasion. It is a versatile dish that can be served as a main course, a side dish, or even a snack. The rice is cooked in a flavorful broth with pigeon peas, sofrito, and spices. It is then served with your favorite protein and vegetables. Arroz con gandules is a great way to experience the flavors of Puerto Rico.
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