Mexican Green Rice (Arroz Verde)
Delicious Mexican-style green rice is seasoned with roasted poblanos, cilantro, and parsley. Slightly smokey, and herby, this rice is a less well-known side that you can use in place of traditional red rice.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups white rice medium or long grain
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup parsley, packed
- 1 cup cilantro, packed
- 2 roasted poblano peppers, stems and seeds removed see notes
- 2.5 cups chicken broth, divided
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil I use safflower
- 1/2 cup diced white onion about half of a small onion or a quarter of a large one
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place rice in a bowl and cover with hot water for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place chiles, garlic, parsley, cilantro and 1 cup broth in blender and blend on high until smooth. This should yield about 2 cups of sauce. See notes.
- 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 onion to hot oil and fry, stirring frequently, until the onion becomes translucent, 1-2 minutes
- 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 green 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 remaining chicken broth, and salt. Stir to combine. Continue allowing the rice to simmer until the liquid is almost absorbed and small holes appear in the rice mixture, 15-20 minutes.
- Turn off burner, cover with a clean kitchen towel and lid. Allow to steam another 5-7 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, sprinkle with a bit of broth or water and cover for a couple of additional minutes until rice is soft.
Notes
- See my how-to on roasting poblano peppers
-
In the US, most rice I have cooked uses a liquid to rice ratio of 2:1. This recipe uses 3 parts liquid to 1 part rice. I like to check the yield of the green sauce in the second step and adjust the chicken broth as necessary to bring the total liquid to 4.5 cups. This may mean that you may need slightly more or less chicken broth than noted in the recipe.