Authentic Mexican Red Rice
Seasoned with tomatoes, onions, and garlic, this authentic Mexican red rice (Arroz a la Mexicana) will become a go-to side dish for your Mexican meals!
Ingredients
- 1 cup medium or long grain white rice
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 medium roma tomaotes (~5oz or 140g)
- 1/4 medium white onion (~2oz or 60g)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup mixed, diced vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, Mexican squash, etc.) Optional
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Place rice in bowl and cover with hot water for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, blend tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender until smooth. This should yield about 1 cup of sauce.
- Drain rice and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy bottomed skillet until shimmering. I use a stainless steel skillet, about 12 inches in diameter with side walls about 3 inches high.
- Add rice and fry until rice starts to turn golden, scraping rice from the bottom of the skillet and turning gently once or twice, about 5-7 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium, add tomato sauce mixture to rice, stir to incorporate and simmer gently until sauce is almost absorbed. Ensure rice on bottom of pan is not burning by gently scraping the bottom of the pan and turning the rice. Take care to not over work the rice, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth, vegetables and salt and continue allowing the rice to simmer until the liquid is almost absorbed and small holes appear in the rice mixture, 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat, cover with a clean kitchen towel and lid. Allow to steam another 5 minutes or until liquid is completely absorbed.
- To check doneness, gently scrape the bottom of the pan and taste rice from the bottom. If the rice is soft, it is ready. If not, cover for a couple of additional minutes until rice is soft.