Mindful Plate

Posted by Lisa

Mexican Rice

This rice dish is something that I make frequently and have made for years.  My husband made it before and after we were married, even after I had taken over most cooking in our home.  Many times I tried to get him to give me the recipe, but he just did it from memory and feel, so I had to watch and then experiment.  Getting it right on my own took quite a few tries, with many misses.  The secret to fluffy rice is to brown the rice until it is golden brown, but not burnt.  It goes quickly from just right to too dark.  You need to stir it almost constantly after you add the rice.

Golden brown rice grains

I’ve never tried making this with brown rice, I usually use basmati, but plain long-grain white rice works as well.  You can scale this recipe up or down easily, but just make sure that you are always using a pan that is wider than it is tall.  If the rice gets too deep, it doesn’t cook uniformly.  The bottom will be soggy and the top will still be slightly crunchy.

Mexican Rice

printable recipe

• several tablespoons olive oil, coconut oil or tallow
• 1/2 -  1 medium onion, diced
• 1 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups rice
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 2 cups water

Combine water and tomato sauce and set aside.  Heat your cooking fat of choice in a heavy bottomed pan on medium high heat.  Add onions and sauté until golden and tender.  Add rice.  Stir to coat rice with oil and continue to stir frequently (almost constantly) to prevent rice from burning.  Cook it for five minutes or so, or until it is golden brown.  Add salt and stir.  Add water/tomato sauce mixture.  The pan will be very hot at this point and when the cooler water/tomato sauce hits it’s going to emit a lot of steam, so stand back.  Stir just enough to combine the liquid with the rice, then don’t stir again.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then cover with a tight fitting lid and turn heat down to low.  Let rice cook for 20 minutes.  Don’t open the lid during this time, it will affect the end result if you do.  When 20 minutes has elapsed, peek inside and see if the rice has absorbed all the liquid.  If it has, turn the heat off and let it sit for a few more minutes before fluffing it and serving.  If it hasn’t absorbed all the water, let it cook a few more minutes and turn the heat off, let it sit and then fluff and serve.