Arroz con gandules

Arroz con gandules

Arroz con gandules.jpg
Origin
Place of origin	Puerto Rico
Details
Course served	Meal
Main ingredient(s)	rice, pigeon peas, sofrito, annatto, and pork

Arroz con gandules is a combination of rice, pigeon peas and pork, cooked in the same pot with Puerto Rican-style sofrito. This is the signature dish of Puerto Rican culture. Arroz con gandules is part of Puerto Rico's national dish along with roast pork.

Preparation

This dish is mainly served around holidays and special occasions. The sofrito is the most important part of seasoning the rice and is usually prepared a day before. The annatto oil (olive oil that has been infused with annatto seeds) is also prepared a day before and usually left out. Annatto is what gives arroz con gandules its distinctive yellow color. The day of cooking the first step is cooking the pigeon peas. The annatto oil is then heated in a separate rice pot. Salchichón (Puerto Rican salami) with smoked ham hock or smoked turkey are lightly browned in annatto oil. Ham, bacon, or chorizo can also be substituted. Sofrito is then added and cooked until most of the water has evaporated stirring gently. Olives, capers, and bay leaves are then added and cooked for an additional minute. Rice, pigeon peas, salt, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin, and possibly orégano brujo are then added and stirred until every grain of rice is coated with sofrito. Broth is then poured into the pot and cooked on high heat then lowered once a boil starts and covered with a plantain leaf and lid.

See also

• Platillo Moros y Cristianos - the equivalent in Cuba
• Gallo Pinto - the equivalent dish of Nicaragua and Costa Rica
• Hoppin' John - the equivalent dish in the Southern United States
• List of legume dishes
• List of rice dishes
• Pabellón criollo - the equivalent in Venezuela
• Rice and beans
• Rice and peas - the equivalent in Jamaica
• Moro de guandules - the equivalent in Dominican Republic

External links

• Arroz con gandules recipe
• Quick Arroz con gandules recipe