Restaurant-Style Mexican Rice | Recipe
A recipe for authentic, restaurant-style Mexican rice, Plus, rice cooking basics and tips, including the difference between boiling and simmering water, timing and allowing the rice to rest.
Ever wondered how to make authentic Mexican rice? Well, the first thing you must know in order to get great restaurant quality rice is, well...know how to cook rice. There are four important things to keep in mind when making the perfect batch of rice: 1) maintain a proper simmer, 2) keep the lid on, 3) cook time and 4) resting time.
1.
SIMMER DOWN NOW
In order to maintain a proper simmer, you need to know what a proper simmer is, and really, it's pretty simple. You know what a boil is, yes? That's pretty easy to determine. Well, a simmer is sorta like a boil, but rather than those big popping bubbles that come to the water's surface, we are looking for lots little tiny streaming bubbles, constantly making their way to the top. You typically need high heat for a boil, you'll probably only need low/medium-low heat (depending on your stove range settings) to maintain a simmer.
2.
PUT A LID ON IT
Next, keep the lid on. We want the rice to steam, after all. Every time you pop off the lid, you are releasing the steam. It's like opening the oven every five minutes when you're baking. That's a big no-no too, by the way. Resist the urge to do so. If you just can't stand it, and you need to see where the water level is within the pan, grab your heat pads, secure the lid and carefully tilt the pot to the side. If you see water, put the pot back down and walk away. If you don't see any water, it's a good indication that it's time to set the pot aside for resting.
3.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
The third thing you need to do to get a perfect pot of rice is set a timer. Don't forget this step. We lead busy lives with lots of distractions. Timers help to keep dinner on track and the rice from scorching the bottom of the pan.
4.
LET IT BE
Lastly, let it rest. Do. Not. Skip. This. Step. Sorry to be so abrupt, but it's pretty important. It allows the heat and steam to redistribute throughout the pot and makes for a fluffier, lighter batch of rice -- perfectly cooked rice to be exact.
P.s. ONE LAST THING
Don't assume all rices cook the same. White long-grain rice is not going to require the same amount of liquid, nor require as much cook time as brown rice. Same goes for Arborio, Bomba and the like.
Now that you have these basic rice-cooking guidelines under your belt, I think it's safe to say you are well on your way to making some darn good rice tonight. The whole Mexican/Spanish thing is only a matter of throwing in a few extra ingredients for flavor, and voila! That's all there is to it.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 white onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup white long-grain rice
Method:
Add butter and olive oil to a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add carrots and onion to the sauce pan, stir and cover for 6-8 minutes until softened. Remove the lid and stir in the tomato paste, followed by the water, salt, garlic powder, cumin and pepper and raise heat to medium-high.
Allow mixture to come to a boil, stir in the rice and reduce heat to medium-low or low, just so that a simmer is maintained. Cover the saucepan and allow to simmer for 18-20 minutes. Do not remove lid and do not stir. Once all of the liquid has been absorbed, remove from the heat and set aside, still covered, for 10 more minutes. Do not skip this step.
Remove the lid and using a fork, fluff the rice. Allow to cool slightly, serve and enjoy.
Would pair well with:
#restaurantqualityrice #howtocookrice #perfectricerecipe #recipe #rice #sidedish #ricesidedishrecipe #perfectwhiterice #ricesidedish #mexican #spanish #texmex #spanishricerecipe #mexicanricerecipe #howdoyoumakemexicanrice #howdoyoumakespanishrice #howdomake #ricecookingtips #tipsforcookingrice #ricetips #tips #kitchentips
Comments