Embracing the Holiday Spirit with Puerto Rican Flavors: Arroz con Gandules
Feliz Navidad mi gente! As I prepare for a heartwarming trip back to Puerto Rico this Christmas, I find myself immersed in the festive spirit, eager to share some of my favorite holiday dishes. Today, let’s delve into a classic that’s synonymous with Puerto Rican Christmas celebrations: Arroz con gandules.
Understanding the Significance of Arroz con Gandules in Puerto Rican Christmas
In Puerto Rican culture, Christmas Eve dinner is incomplete without the holy trinity of Arroz con Gandules, Pernil, and Pasteles. These dishes aren’t just food; they’re a celebration of heritage and family traditions that bind us together during this festive season.
Exploring the Many Faces of Rice in Puerto Rican Dishes
Growing up in Puerto Rico, rice was a staple at almost every meal, but it was never monotonous. The variety, from plain white to vibrant yellow, often accompanied by chicken, beef, pork, or sausage, and sometimes topped with beans, a perfectly cooked egg, and sweet plantains, kept it exciting. Among these, Arroz con Gandules has always been my favorite.
Step-by-Step Guide to Making Arroz con Gandules
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Rinsing Rice: Is it Necessary? Rice straight out of the bag is coated in excess starch. Rinsing it off is crucial for non-sticky, fluffy Arroz con Gandules.
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Choosing the Right Fat: Bacon Drippings or Alternatives While you can use olive or canola oil, bacon drippings add an authentic flavor. Opt for uncured bacon, or use skin-on pork belly or well-rinsed salt pork.
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Understanding Sofrito: The Heart of Puerto Rican Cuisine Sofrito, the blend of herbs and spices, is the cornerstone of this dish. Remember, in Puerto Rico, sofrito doesn’t contain tomatoes. You’re looking for ‘recaito’ in stores.
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Selecting the Best Rice for Arroz con Gandules Medium-grain rice is non-negotiable for the right texture. Short-grain is too sticky, long-grain too loose.
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Toasting the Rice: The Secret to Fluffiness Toasting the rice in drippings or oil before cooking ensures it stays fluffy and loose.
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Creating the Coveted ‘Pegao’ For that delicious crusty bottom layer, toast the rice a bit longer before adding the liquid, then cook as instructed.
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The Ideal Water-to-Rice Ratio A slightly adjusted ratio of 1 1/4 cups of water to 1 cup of rice accounts for the added moisture from other ingredients.
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Ensuring a Tight Seal During Cooking A tight seal is key. Use foil to cover the pot, mimicking the traditional method of using plantain leaves.
What is Puerto Rican Sofrito/Recaito?
Sofrito is crucial in Puerto Rican cooking, acting as our version of mire poix or the holy trinity, although it includes more than just three ingredients. It serves as the foundation for numerous Puerto Rican dishes, and omitting it when a recipe calls for it is not an option.
I strongly believe that homemade sofrito is better than store-bought, so I prefer to make my own. However, this doesn’t mean I never use store-bought. Sometimes, there just isn’t enough time, and using store-bought sofrito becomes necessary.
Let me clarify the difference between sofrito and recaito. In Puerto Rico, sofrito does not contain tomatoes, unlike Spain’s sofrito, which includes tomatoes.
In Puerto Rico, sofrito and recaito are used interchangeably. So, if you plan to buy sofrito, what you actually want is recaito.
I know it’s confusing, and I apologize. The best way to remember is a simple rhyme: “green go and red no.”
Arroz con Gandules is Not Just for Christmas: A Versatile Dish for Any Occasion
While quintessential for Christmas, Arroz con Gandules is a dish that brings joy to any table, any time of the year. Its tender rice, bursting with flavor, and the delightful pop of pigeon peas make it a crowd-pleaser.
Leftovers: Tips and Ideas
Don’t fret about leftovers; they reheat beautifully, retaining their softness. My favorite way to relish them is topped with a runny egg – pure bliss!
Additional Puerto Rican Holiday Recipes
Explore More Traditional Puerto Rican Holiday Dishes for a Complete Feast
If you’re looking to expand your holiday menu, why not try Roasted Pernil, Pasteles de Masa, or Arroz con Dulce? Be warned, though – they’re incredibly addictive!
Explore My Full Collection of Authentic Puerto Rican Recipes
Arroz con Gandules is just the beginning. Puerto Rican cuisine is rich, diverse, and full of flavors waiting to be explored.
Hungry for more? Dive into my collection of Puerto Rican recipes for a culinary adventure that’s sure to tantalize your taste buds!
Arroz con Gandules (Rice and Pigeon Peas)
Arroz con gandules is a flavorful rice dish with pigeon peas. It's traditionally served in Puerto Rico during Christmas but, appreciated year round.
Ingredients
- 4 cups medium grain rice, rinsed
- 4 strips pork belly or uncured thick cut bacon
- 1/2 cup Sofrito
- 1 15 oz can Gandules (Pigeon Peas), drained
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 8 Spanish olives halved
- salt and pepper
- 5 cups water
- 1 banana leaf (optional)*
Instructions
- Heat a large pot or caldero on medium heat, slowly cook the pork belly until crispy, remove bacon from pot and set aside leaving the drippings.
- Add sofrito to the drippings, cook about 3-5 minutes. Add rice to the pot to toast the rice, about 5 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Stirring occasionally. Add tomato sauce, capers, olive and pigeon peas. Gently stir until well combined.
- Add water, bring it to a boil on high until water begins to evaporate, place banana leaf or foil over the rice, cover and simmer on low for 35 minutes.
- Add crispy bacon and fluff with a fork. Serve
Notes
*It is important not to stir rice more than once otherwise, it will come out very sticky.
*The banana leaf it optional, it gives the rice a nice flavor. I purchase my banana leaves at my local Asian market.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Amount Per Serving: Carbohydrates: 85gProtein: 14g
This is SO helpful. I am from Colorado but live in Puerto Rico now. I dont have family here or know many people well enough here to get recipes so I did not know the trick about medium rice and I could never figure out what sofrito was the correct sofrito. But I have such a desire to connect with the culture and food here. Thank you thank you thank you. So much respect for you and your recipes and for all of Puerto Rico! Can’t wait to make this in BULK during this friggin pandemic!
Have you ever substituted any other kind of rice? I only have basmati…. It’s a medium grain I believe….
I have not tried basmati with this recipe. It should work but I cannot speak to how it will compare to the original texture.
Do you rinse the rice until the water is clear? This is how my Puerto Rican friend did it. She also used spareribs with the bone in to make this delicious dish. Have you ever heard of that?
I do rinse the rice until it runs mostly clear. I have never used spareribs in my rice but spareribs or a ham hock is a great way to add flavor.
It’s delicious & my favorite in Puerto Rican rice. We asks the butcher to cut the ribs in thirds, so the pieces are small. I’m Puerto Rican born & raided in CA and all my family use riblets, chicken or hamhock in our rice.
Pork belly makes everything good!
Such great flavours here! Meisedy, some day I need you to cook for me!
I can not wait to make this, going to be so good!
I totally want this for dinner!
Love this dish so much!
Great recipe! Finally was able to a make a perfect Puerto Rican rice. My fellow Latin friends approved with full bellies. Loved it! Thank you!
Can you please clarify how to use the banana leaf or foil? Do you lay it directly on top of the rice? Or over the top of the pot, held in place by the lid? Thank you!
You place it directly over the rice and secure it with the lid.
Finally, Puerto Rican dishes!!!!!! I happened to stumble across your site and read through almost every blog. You are spot on with the rice! It is such an essential part of our culture and I raise my kids to rinse clear lol. Thank you for the water-ratio tip. My friends come over specifically for my white rice (what a joke), but pegao will do that craziness to anyone. Arroz con guandules can be a hit or miss, bc if the added essentials so I will attempt. Couldn’t be happier to try the pastelon recipe tomorrow!!!
Oh my goodness! You lived in Tulsa?? I lived here for almost 10 years before moving to Tampa for 5 years, now back here in Tulsa again for the past 4 years. I dated a guy from PR while I lived in Tampa and had the wonderful pleasure of getting to visit the island with him, going from his home in Bayamón, to Old San Juan, all the way to Mayagüez to his grandparents. In addition to the amazing natural beauty of the island and all loving, friendly people I spent time with, the FOOD has always been an untouchable memory. I found your site while searching for ways to recreate a little piece of Puerto Rican cooking while stuck smack in the middle of Oklahoma. THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of these delicious recipes! Maybe one day. I’ll get to visit Puerto Rico again. I swear, I left a little piece of my heart and soul there.
Thank you for sharing your recipe. You are the first person I have found online that does not use SAZON when making arroz con gandules,etc. Your recipe is similar my grandmother’s. Abuela would have been 104 this year. You can cook without SAZONand your food comes out sabraza! Some people are sensitive to MSG!
I dont use sazon either i replace it with achoite oil i makw monthly and it gold the authentic color better than sazon.
Guess what I found in my neighborhood Kroger in Little Rock, AR. Medium grain rice!
I’m veering from your recipe because I’ve made umpty-jillion cookies today; so I’m working with what I have in the pantry. I’ll have to get authentic and try the accurate recipe for Arroz con Gandules soon. Yum. We all adore your carnitas and posole recipes. We made it often. Actually, I have carnitas frozen awaiting the next posole craving.
You are so right! Arroz con Gandules begins with bacon! Not many people are aware of that.
So I am a normal American girl from the midwest who married into a from Puerto Rico Puerto Rican family and I am told that my Arroz Con Gandules is to die for. Needless to say it isn’t my recipe but rather The Noshery’s but they don’t need to know that 😉
I always burn my rice , I think its because I dont know how much water should evaporate out when cooking on high . Could you please tell me how much water should evaporate ?? Thank you 🙂
This tip comes from a conversation my mother (God rest her soul) gave to someone she was teaching to make rice ( I was 7 years old and listening in on the tutorial): The water should be a fingertip level (2 1/2 in.) above the rice. Doesn’t matter whether it is two cups of rice or 10, perfect rice all the time.
So very true.
My abuela says the same thing!
I made this last night for my Víspera de Reyes in NC and it is absolutely delicious. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!! *I put less water in the rice because I like my rice a bit more loose, just 3 cups instead of 4, but still, delicious.
Did your family ever make this rice, but with chicken pieces? My PR in-laws make the rice with cut up pieces of chicken and then have a separate pot of beans which they ladle over top. They use wax paper instead of banana leaves. I’ve tried countless times to make this so I can continue the tradition, but my rice never turns out. Any thoughts?
What do you mean by the rice does not turn out? Undercooked, sticky, wet?
Bonus – the banana leaf on top keeps the condensation from the pot lid from getting in the rice. 🙂
Thank you so much for your amazing recipes , I have always been a pretty good cook but your recipes always makes my husband and his family feel like they are back home in PR which makes me feel like i’m truly a part of his wonderful latin culture.
Could this work with a long grain brown rice?
ps
I Love making my own condiments too! Count me IN for a “Sofrito Power” tee 🙂
It should, because this has so much seasoning on the rice. 🙂
Hey, we’re not dorks! I get all excited about my sofrito too! Maybe a sofrito power t-shirt…
I can’t wait to make this. This year I am having family and friends over for a Pre-Christmas dinner and I’ve been asked to make Arroz this year. The caveat is that my mother (Native PR) used to be the one that makes the rice but she moved to South Carolina and won’t be here this holiday. I’ve been trying to devise a way to have her ship me some cooked rice, but she’s not buying into that idea. Why not I say?!? Anyway, it’s up to me to keep the tradition. So, I hope this recipe makes me look good!
P.S. I do have some of her homeade sofrito left in my freezer! That’s a plus! MMMM. Que rico!
@Jari: Yes I know a lot of Puerto Ricans that use green plantains in their Arroz con Gandules. I don’t know if this is a custom from southern Puerto Rico (Salinas/Ponce area). You have to use a fine mesh grater (un guayo) and grate a green plantain until it is mushy. Season the grated plaintain with salt, adobo, or sazon, and then spoon it into the water with the rice. This gives it a great flavor, almost like pasteles.
I *will* make this. I think I remember my mom adding some green plantain shreds to it. Have you tried it this way? I kind of remember it makes it mushy, but I wonder how much.
I have never tried or heard of it prepared that way.
I haven’t heard of that either, but if you want to do that you can fry plantain shreds and toss them in after the rice is cooked so that it doesn’t come out mushy.
Can you make this in a rice cooker? If so, would I need to make some adjustments? Time, ingredients, etc…I am known as a “rice-burner”.
I have tried making this in a rice maker and it has been hit & miss, which is why I always do it stove top.
Maybe it depends on the rice maker. Which one did you use, Meseidy?