The Sobremesa 06.

let's talk about how to cook rice like a Puerto Rican

The first thing I learned to cook was white rice.

I think how it went down is I was around 9yrs old, or at least old enough to be around an open flame. My mom was running around the kitchen trying to make dinner for us in-between our soccer practices and homework. She probably shouted the directions to me while cooking something more complicated. From there on, it was always my dinner task (which was an important task, as we ate it a couple times a week.) I tell this story as good news for you - because making really bomb rice is actually so easy a 9yr old could make it!

In our semi-Puerto Rican household, rice was very important. In fact, when my Puerto Rican dad first married my gringa mom, apparently the most important matter to resolve was that my mother needed to learn to make rice correctly. The expert (his mother) was brought in to consult. In Puerto Rican culture, you eat rice all the damn time. It’s truly served with everything. To this day my dad does not acknowledge a meal as complete without rice (however, bread or pasta is a reasonable substitute).

Rice is actually the staple food of over half the world's population. To lay down some facts - it is the predominant dietary energy source for 17 countries in Asia and the Pacific, 9 countries in North and South America and 8 countries in Africa. Rice provides 20% of the world's dietary energy supply, while wheat supplies 19% and maize (corn) 5%. Thanks, Wikipedia! As you can see, rice is a big deal!

Rice is such an important staple in most cultures, and we all cook it differently. My Chinese friend swears by her rice cooker, my Persian friend swears by the pre-soaking method. And I bet any of you other Puerto Ricans out there have other secrets my family doesn’t even do. It may seem like a simple dish, but it’s the center of so many dinner tables around the world, and it’s meant to pair with a variety of flavors and textures.

I remember the first time I cooked rice with friends outside of my family home. I was horrified to see them ACTUALLY follow the instructions on the back of the box (which tells you to boil the water first, then add the rice). Martha Stewart also recommends this method - and while she can cook her ass off, she’s pretty damn white and I can assume she did not grow up eating much of it. I finally understood why white people didn’t like rice as much as I did - it’s because they were being told the wrong way to make it for so long. With the recipe on the back of the box, I find the texture and density of the rice to be off, and it’s often cooked unevenly.

What do I do differently? It’s no special seasoning or some old world pan. I just cook the rice and the water and bring it to a boil all together. I know, crazy! But it makes the rice fluffy, not dry (but also not wet), and binded (but also not too sticky). This style of rice pairs really well with the chicken, pork, and beans that Puerto Ricans are also always eating. To boot - I find this method fool proof for making excellent rice.

Rice f*ucking rocks and if you don’t agree with me you probably have been following the recipe on the back of the box. There’s a million ways to make good rice I am sure, especially from other cultures, but the Velazquez method is what I know best. It’s easy, takes 20 mins, and muy delicioso.

I work off the golden ratio for rice — 1:2 (rice : water). Drill this ratio in your head so you can pop some rice off whenever you feel like it without having to look up the recipe. And now you can make as much or little rice as you want.

But, to make things easier for you, I’ll work off servings for 2 (with some leftovers, always make everything with enough for leftovers) in this recipe

Ingredients:

serves 2

1 cup rice, I like basmati or jasmine

2 cups water

1 tablespoon salted butter or olive oil (I always choose butter, because, well, I love butter)

Sprinkle of salt

Vamooooos!

Take a small sauce pan, add your rice, water, butter, and salt. Place over medium-high heat.

Watch your pot - you’ll see the water start to cook down. That’s great! We want the water to cook down almost completely.

When you start to see the little holes making little canals through the rice and hear a little crinkling (about 10 mins), the water has almost evaporated, but you’re not finished yet….

Cut the heat. Take a big spoon and in one turn, scoop into one side of the rice so that you can scrape the bottom and scoop all the way around to make a little mound of rice. If that was hard to follow, just aim to get a little mountain of rice. Cover the pot. This will allow for the rice to continue to cook evenly through its own steam.

Wait about 10 more minutes, and check on your rice. Taste it! Is it soft, fluffy, cooked through, and delicious? You’re finished! Yes, that’s it.

Note: If it’s still a little hard, put the top back on and let cook a little more. If it’s a little wet, put on low heat with the top off for a little bit.

Unless..

Do you like the crispy rice at the bottom of the pan? Many cultures cherish this part of the rice. In Puerto Rico, it’s called pegao. Pegao translates to “stick.” And it’s called this because it literally sticks to the bottom of the pot. Pegao was always reserved for my father as a special treat (and was probably the only machismo he flexed in the house).

To make pegao -

Serve up your rice for your meal and leave a little rice on the bottom. Add some more oil or butter, turn to medium heat, and simmer until it starts to crinkle and stick to the pot. If you can’t scrape it from the bottom of the pot, then it’s not pegao. Remember, pegao means to stick, after all. Serve it up to your favorite daddy ; )

Now what?

Serve with beans, or chicken, or fish, or steak! Make a burrito! Eat it by itself! The world is your oyster!

Buen provecho! Love ya mucho,

Tessa