Monday Menu: Mexican Rice (Arroz Rojo)

I’m traveling again. When I return, we’ll dive into Thanksgiving recipes….

Rice and enchiladas photo from the JeffreyW collection

I had a very specific craving this past week.  I wanted an authentic Mexican rice, like you find on the side of your plate at a great family Mexican restaurant. I went searching for recipes and found two. I’ll post the videos and then the ingredients list. The key really does seem to be frying the rice. That step would explain why my previous attempts always fell flat.

This is a longer version by a different chef:

Now, let’s talk about bouillon. I keep neither chicken nor tomato (I didn’t even know that was a thing) on hand. So I substituted tomato paste and chicken broth. Because I used chicken broth, I cut the water down by the amount of the broth. This did mean I also cut down on the salt (my broth is low-sodium) so in the end I did need to add additional salt.

Otherwise, the flavor and texture were perfect.

Mexican Rice (Arroz Rojo) ingredients:

• 2 large tomatoes
• 1/4 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 C water for blending (reduce if using broth)
• 1 packet chicken bouillon (or 1 can chicken broth)
• 1 packet tomato bouillon (or 1 tbsp tomato paste)
• 2 Cups jasmine rice (washed opt)
• 3Tbsp oil (to fry rice)
• 1 jalapeno (optional)
• Additional water – the blended mixture and water together should equal 3-¼ cups of liquid. A little more if you like a slightly creamier mixture.