WHITE RICE (SOFRITO)

BECAUSE WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT RICE?

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Rice that is steamy, fluffy, and with a great herbal aroma can be the most incredible pairing for most foods. It’s slightly neutral taste with herbal undertones pairs super well with the strong savoriness of beans yielding a combination that can stand on its own, or be combined with many meats. Many people use rice cookers because it seems as if rice was difficult to make, but if you use the right technique it is a very simple and quick dish to make. The trick is to trust the process. Once you get really good at this you can start to play with how much ‘crunchy rice’ you can get out of the bottom of the pan. I had a friend that once said ‘there’s a whole culture built around crunchy rice’ which he called concon and joked that it translated to ‘with with’. In any case, our family has always enjoyed rice regularly, so I know you’ll love making this.

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INGREDIENTS:

		| RATIO:
1 cup	Medium-grain White Rice (Extra-long grain Basmati is my favorite, but medium is the classic)	| 1
1-1/2 cup	Water or broth	| 1.5
1/4	Onion or Bell Pepper
2-3	Bay Leaves
1/2 tsp	Sea Salt

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INSTRUCTIONS:

• Heat up a little oil on medium heat in a sauce pan and add the onion or pepper until they start to brown.
• Once browned add the dried rice, salt, and bay leaves then incorporate.
• The rice should very lightly toast along the bottom of the pan, then stir thoroughly to allow another batch to toast. Repeat this process two or three times to lighly 'fry' the rice (this is why it’s called sofrito) It wont really toast much, nor will it toast most of the rice, but it will add a toasty, nutty, flavor.
• Once done toasting add the water or broth. The liquid will sizzle loudly and may come to a boil immediately, that’s normal. If you’re using dried boullion cubes this is the time to add them (I like to mince them up beforehand to ensure they dissolve). Stir the mixture and push down the vegetables and bay leaves, then avoid stirring after this. If the broth is cold you may need to turn up the heat a little, but otherwise allow the medium heat to bring the liquid to a boil.
• When the boiling liquid just reaches the surface of the rice, turn the heat down to low and cover the saucepan with a lid. --NOTE: I've often realized the liquid is below the surface of the rice a little late.. If this happens you can add a little water to bring the level up to the surface again before capping. This will ensure the rice steams thoroughly, otherwise you may end up with undercooked and hard rice.
• Once it's been capped at a steady and low simmer, avoid taking the lid off of the sauce pan... get used to not having to check on the contents of the pot since losing that steam every time you open it will cause the rice to stop cooking. Above all, do not stir the rice whilst it steams.
• Allow the pot to sit on low heat until you stop seeing any steam escaping the lid. Usually it will go from white steam escaping the pot to just clear steam. Right around this time you can check to see if the rice has expanded completely. If not you can just cover for a little longer.
• Once the rice is cooked you will start to smell the nutty toasty bottom of the rice starting to get browned. You can learn how to tell if this is just about to happen by smelling the rice without opening the lid.
• If you forget to keep an eye on the rice it will start to burn and smoke. From afar it will look like white steam is still coming out of the pot, but be careful because this will in-fact be white smoke from the bottom burning.
• I’ve sometimes forgotten to add salt to the rice, which will initially seem like a huge mistake. I mean... it’s not ideal, but it is fixable. Take a large mixing bowl and empty the whole pot of hot steamy rice into it. Sprinkle salt and stir thoroughly without mashing the rice. Cover for a little bit and the salt will work its way into the mixture.

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CILANTRO OR HERB INFUSED RICE:

Use the same process outlined above for adding salt to the rice to add minced fresh cilantro or other fresh herbs to create a flavorful and tasty rice alternative.

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