Arroz con gandules, also known as Puerto Rican rice with pigeon peas, is a traditional dish that holds a special place in the culinary heritage of Puerto Rico. This flavorful and vibrant dish is a staple in Puerto Rican cuisine, often served as a main course or as a side dish to accompany various stews, meats, and fish. The combination of savory rice, tender pigeon peas (gandules), and a blend of aromatic spices creates a delectable dish that is sure to tantalize your taste buds. Arroz con gandules is a versatile dish that can be easily customized to your liking, making it a favorite among home cooks and restaurant chefs alike. In this article, we will explore the best recipe to create an authentic and delicious arroz con gandules, providing step-by-step instructions and helpful tips to ensure a perfect result every time.
Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!
PIGEON PEA RICE: ARROZ CON GANDULES
Provided by Ingrid Hoffmann
Categories side-dish
Time 1h20m
Yield 8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Place a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and bacon. Fry, stirring, until the bacon is crisp. Add the onion and cilantro. Continue to cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the rice, tomatoes, oregano, cumin, salt, achiote, and pigeon peas. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the rice is opaque. Stir in the tomato paste and water and bring to boil. When all the water is absorbed, cover tightly and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes until tender. Serve on a decorative platter and garnish with cilantro.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)-A PUERTO RICAN FAV
Make and share this Arroz Con Gandules (Rice and Pigeon Peas)-A Puerto Rican Fav recipe from Food.com.
Provided by kimjunae
Categories Short Grain Rice
Time 50m
Yield 10 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Pour olive oil in a cast iron/aluminum pot until hot.
- Bring the temp up to med-high and pour in water, bullion, tomato sauce, sofrito, adobo, and sazon until it comes to a boil.
- Pour in pigeon peas (gandules) and let boil for a minute.
- Pour in rice.
- Stir ONCE and put the lid on it, sealing tightly.
- Let sit for 20 minutes on low-medium.
- If the rice looks gummy DO NOT STIR IT, just put the lid back on and wait until the rice is firm (ready).
- If you desire the crunchiness on the bottom, once the rice is done cooking, put the temp on very low temp and let it sit for about 5 minutes. The bottom will loosen up from the moisture (since it it's done cooking).
ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)
Arroz con Gandules -- also known as Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas -- is Puerto Rico's national dish for a reason! It's a flavorful Puerto Rican rice dish made with gandules (pigeon peas), green olives and sofrito. Treat your friends and family to this famous rice tonight!
Provided by Jessica - The Novice Chef
Categories Side Dishes
Time 1h10m
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- 1. Heat a large heavy bottomed pot, or a caldero if you have one, over medium heat. If using ham or bacon, slowly cook the meat until crispy, remove meat from pot and set aside leaving the drippings. If not using meat, add olive oil before continuing with the next step. 2. Then, add the gandules, tomato sauce, green olives, sofrito, salt, adobo seasoning, sazon, ground black pepper and ground cumin. Stir to fully combine. 3. Once the mixture becomes fragrant, pour in the water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the rice. Stir until rice is submerged and pigeon peas are distributed evenly. 4. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 25 minutes. You can add your ham or bacon back in now if you want, or wait to add it in again before serving. Traditionally the rice would be covered with a banana or plantain leaf. However, a tight fitting pot lid will work just fine! 5. About half way through cooking, remove the lid and stir, making sure to scrape up any rice stuck at the bottom of the pan. This is a very touchy subject - some Puerto Ricans insist that you don't stir the rice while cooking. That the crispy bottom bites are the best part! While others would prefer more evenly cooked rice. Whatever you do, if you do stir the rice, make sure you only do it once or the rice can become sticky. 6. After simmering for 25 minutes, remove the arroz con gandules from the heat and let it sit for an additional 30 minutes before serving. This is called letting the rice "steam". The rice is done once all the liquid is absorbed. 7. After letting the rice rest for about a half hour, remove the lid. Fluff and stir the rice, then serve warm with fresh cilantro, if desired.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 257 calories, Carbohydrate 25 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 16 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 12 grams fat, Fiber 3 grams fiber, Protein 12 grams protein, SaturatedFat 1 grams saturated fat, ServingSize 1, Sodium 1265 milligrams sodium, Sugar 1 grams sugar, TransFat 0 grams trans fat, UnsaturatedFat 7 grams unsaturated fat
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!
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
Arroz con gandules is a combination of rice and pigeon peas cooked in the same pot with sofrito. This is Puerto Rico's national dish along with roasted pork. I make a whole pot of arroz con gandules at least once a month just for me. I eat it all week long with nothing but lots of hot sauce. This rice dish is a must for all family events, gatherings or even a day at the beach.
Provided by Food Network
Categories side-dish
Time 1h
Yield 6 to 8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Rinse the rice with cold water, drain and set aside.
- Heat the oil and sofrito in a 6-quart Dutch oven or caldero over medium-high heat, 2 minutes. Stir in the gandules with liquid, tomato sauce, olives, sazón, adobo and black pepper to taste then bring to a simmer. Stir in the rice, add 2 cups water and bring to a boil until the water begins to evaporate. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Before serving, fluff the rice and add the cilantro.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)
This recipe starts with fresh pigeon peas and I am translating it from Spanish. It comes from an old cookbook, originally published in 1954 called "Cocina Criolla" by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli who was born in 1912. So I suppose she would know Puerto Rican cooking if anyone does!
Provided by threeovens
Categories Rice
Time 1h15m
Yield 6-8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 16
Steps:
- Soak pigeon peas overnight in 6 cups of water; drain and discard water.
- In a large, covered pot, combine peas with 4 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 30 minutes.
- Season with salt and cook 15 minutes more; drain, reserving 3 cups of the cooking liquid (you may need to add more water to end up with the 3 cups).
- Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, lightly brown the bacon and ham; add in the remaining sofrito ingredients and saute, over low heat until all the ingredients are tender and the tomatoes break down.
- Stir in the additional ingredients and combine well; stir in the peas and rice.
- Add the 3 cups of reserved cooking liquid and let cook, uncovered, until almost dry (it will look like little volcanos are erupting); stir up the rice from the bottom.
- Cover and turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let cook 30 minutes, turning the rice, from the bottom, once halfway through cooking.
- NOTE: This is how the dish is supposed to be cooked. I prefer to add the olives after the last turning of the rice for a "cleaner" flavor.
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.
Tips:
- To make flavorful sofrito, use a combination of fresh vegetables like bell peppers, onions, garlic, and cilantro. Sauté them in olive oil until softened.
- Rinse the pigeon peas thoroughly before cooking to remove any impurities. Soaking them overnight is recommended for a softer texture.
- Use high-quality rice for the best results. Medium or long-grain rice works well for this dish.
- To achieve a vibrant yellow color, use achiote oil or annatto seeds. If unavailable, turmeric powder can be used as a substitute.
- Adjust the amount of water or broth depending on the desired consistency of the rice. For a drier texture, use less liquid, and for a more soupy consistency, use more liquid.
- Do not stir the rice while it is cooking to prevent breaking the grains. Once the liquid is absorbed, fluff the rice with a fork before serving.
- Serve Arroz con Gandules as a main course or a side dish with your favorite protein, such as roasted chicken, grilled pork, or stewed beef.
Conclusion:
Arroz con Gandules is a delightful Puerto Rican dish that combines the flavors of savory rice, tender pigeon peas, and aromatic sofrito. It is a versatile dish that can be enjoyed as a main course or a side dish. With its vibrant colors and delicious taste, Arroz con Gandules is a must-try dish for anyone who loves Puerto Rican cuisine. Whether you follow a strict recipe or experiment with different ingredients, this dish is sure to impress your taste buds and transport you to the vibrant streets of Puerto Rico.
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