Mexican Red Rice

My mom's friend,Vera, made the best Spanish Rice I've ever had. When I asked her about the recipe she said, “it’s not Spanish, it’s Mexican, and the technique is as important than the ingredients.” Vera used a shorter grained rice and fried the ingredients before adding boiling hot tomato broth. The result was a fluffier rice more red in color than Spanish rice.

The technique is similar to making a pilaf, the browning of the rice allows each grain to absorb flavor. Cilantro is not chopped and added, it acts as a bouquet garni and is removed after cooking. This is also true for half of the onion, while some is chopped to cook with the rice, the other half gets removed with the cilantro.

For many years I called this dish “Vera’s Red Rice” as a tribute to the cook, but gradually the “Vera’s” got changed to “Mexican” to describe it better on our catering menu. If you choose to leave out bacon, butter can be used. The peas are a classic garnish to this excellent traditional side dish.

Mexican Red Rice

Serves 24

8 cups water

3 cubes Knorr Tomate seasoning

4 ounces tomato sauce

1 onion

6 ounces bacon diced

¼ cup oil

½ cup carrot diced

5 cups rice

½ teaspoon black pepper

4 cloves garlic minced

1 bunches cilantro

1½ cups petite peas

1. Bring 8 cups of water to boil and add Knorr Tomate cubes and stir to dissolve, add tomato sauce and set aside.

2. Dice ½ of the onion, leaving ½ whole.

3. In a large heavy bottom stock pot over medium heat fry bacon until brown. Add oil, diced onion, carrot and stir for one minute.

4. Add rice, black pepper, garlic and stir for one minute more.

5. Pour boiling hot tomato broth over rice and top with ½ bunch of cilantro and ½ whole onion and bring back to boil.  Stir boiling rice about 3 to 4 minutes.

6. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, set timer for 25 minutes. Do not disturb while rice cooks.

7. Stir in frozen petite peas before serving.

COOKS NOTE

• Knorr Tomate is a tomato chicken flavored bullion available in Latin markets or may be stocked in the Latin section of the grocer store. This ingredient will give the rice authentic Mexican flavor.