ISO Spanish (Mexican?) Rice Recipe

[mbasiszta]

Originally Posted by beginner_chef

Yum Allen!! I will try your recipe soon..
This thread got me thinkin about somethin..
I absolutely love the fried rice that chinese resteraunts have.. does anyone have a recipe for that kind of rice?.. Should I make another thread asking that?

Yes, you should start another thread. Chinese fried rice deserves a special treatment all to itself. It can be wonderful.

One of the neat things about it is you can basically throw whatever you happen to have in your fridge that you want to otherwise get rid of - just put it all into the rice after you have browned and crisped up the old rice you also had leftover. Makes my mouth water to just think about it.

[AllenOK]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

Here's all I do.

Cooked ground beef if it's more of a meal.

Remove cooked beef and saute some onions and green or red pepper - I like mine caramelized. Toss in my cooked and cooled white rice that I seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, sometimes a tad of chili powder. Toss all that together (add back the ground beef if using) and throw in a can or two of Rotel and a can of drained diced tomatoes and the juice from a lime. Stir and heat. I always check the spices and usually end up adding more salt (add the Rotel and tomatoes first since they contain salt), I end up adding more cumin, and pepper. I then top my rice with fresh cilantro, a wedge of lime, and some sour cream. I have also been known to add some black beans at the end of the onions and peppers cooking too.

KE, have you tried using chorizo, or a mix of hamburger and chorizo?

[mbasiszta]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

Here's all I do.
Cooked ground beef if it's more of a meal.
Remove cooked beef and saute some onions and green or red pepper - I like mine caramelized. Toss in my cooked and cooled white rice that I seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, sometimes a tad of chili powder. Toss all that together (add back the ground beef if using) and throw in a can or two of Rotel and a can of drained diced tomatoes and the juice from a lime. Stir and heat. I always check the spices and usually end up adding more salt (add the Rotel and tomatoes first since they contain salt), I end up adding more cumin, and pepper. I then top my rice with fresh cilantro, a wedge of lime, and some sour cream. I have also been known to add some black beans at the end of the onions and peppers cooking too.

Allen, this dish would be wonderful. It is kind of a Mexican "sloppy joe". I use ground beef as the base of a lot of Mexican dishes with different types of beans (the ones I have on hand.) In addition to all your stuff, try some pickled, sliced jalapeños.

I usually serve over rice, or have the rice on the side, but you certainly could add it right in as well. I will give it a try and see what the powers to be think.

Thanks for the idea. BW loves 'one pot' meals.

[CharlieD]

Thank you.

[archiduc]

Originally Posted by mbasiszta

This post pertains to Mexican Rice, which is definitely different from Spanish Rice.

IMHO, the secret to a really genuine-flavored Mexicen Rice is browning the rice. The most important thing is to fry white rice in a vegetable oil. Olive oil will burn the rice. You use enough oil to coat each piece of rice. Stir frequently and cook for around 15 to 20 minutes. The rice will puff as it soaks up some oil, turn browner and browner. When it is almost carmel colored, throw in a finely chopped onion. It will give the rice some more liquid to absorb. When the onions are opaque, throw in chopped garlic for no more than a minute.

Okay, now you hit it with your liquid, preferably a clear home-made stock, but at least a nice store bought chicken stock. Normal 2 parts water to 1 part rice will do, since you are also going to pour in a full jar of chunky salsa, containing lots of good flavors for the rice. Mama Ruiz taught me to also sprinkle enough Tumeric in at this point so the rice has a nice yellow-gold color to it. Tumeric is healthy too.

Half way through cooking (about 10 minutes) with all the ingredients now in the pan, stir in cumin powder, oregano powder and fresh peas if you must. I leave them out, but they are traditional according to Mama Ruiz.

Stir to fluff when all the moisture is absorbed. I usually have to add more moisture (I just use water at this juncture), in order to make sure the crunch is gone from the rice. Just experiment until you have the "al dente" feel of the rice you prefer.

This is a wonderful rice. The main thing is to thorougly frying the rice in the beginning.

Hi Mbasiszta,
I hate to disagree with you, but one of the points that you make is that, and I quote: "Olive oil will burn the rice".

Not so, olive oil is not a sentient being capabale of doing anything. Olive oil cannot burn, cook, brown or do anything to any ingredient other than that which you require it to do! Only humans, using oil derived from olives may affect any ingredients. In general, when cooking and using a fat which may be animal or plant based, heat is required. You, as a sentient and human being control the heat. If the rice burns it does so as a result of you failing to control the heat applied - thus olive oil cannot burn the rice!

Question - what`s the difference between Mexican and Spanish rice?

Answer - too many to pin it down to one and maybe too similar to separate!

Archiduc

[mbasiszta]

Originally Posted by archiduc

Hi Mbasiszta,
I hate to disagree with you, but one of the points that you make is that, and I quote: "Olive oil will burn the rice".

Not so, olive oil is not a sentient being capabale of doing anything. Olive oil cannot burn, cook, brown or do anything to any ingredient other than that which you require it to do! Only humans, using oil derived from olives may affect any ingredients. In general, when cooking and using a fat which may be animal or plant based, heat is required. You, as a sentient and human being control the heat. If the rice burns it does so as a result of you failing to control the heat applied - thus olive oil cannot burn the rice!

Question - what`s the difference between Mexican and Spanish rice?

Answer - too many to pin it down to one and maybe too similar to separate!

Archiduc

Geez, I posted an opinion, not a commandment. Lighten up, please.

[AllenOK]

I've always thought of "Spanish" Rice as being Paella, or something very similar.

"Mexican" Rice is the highly seasoned, yellow or red rice side dish that you get with Tex-Mex food.

I've developed my own recipe for "Mexican" Rice, as well as the "Fiesta" rice recipe which is more of a one-pot meal.

I haven't done any work towards developing my own "Paella" or "Spanish" rice recipe, as I usually don't have a lot of seafood to use for that.

Now, my other half insists that "Spanish" rice is nothing but rice (cooked in a separate pan), browned hamburger, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, and some Broiled Steak Seasoning.

[mbasiszta]

Originally Posted by AllenOK

I've always thought of "Spanish" Rice as being Paella, or something very similar.

"Mexican" Rice is the highly seasoned, yellow or red rice side dish that you get with Tex-Mex food.

I've developed my own recipe for "Mexican" Rice, as well as the "Fiesta" rice recipe which is more of a one-pot meal.

I haven't done any work towards developing my own "Paella" or "Spanish" rice recipe, as I usually don't have a lot of seafood to use for that.

Now, my other half insists that "Spanish" rice is nothing but rice (cooked in a separate pan), browned hamburger, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, and some Broiled Steak Seasoning.

That is one of the wonderful things about cooking in general, isn't it? There are so many ways to make the "same thing". There are as many types of Mexican Rice as there are Spanish Rice. If I find a recipe I either made or tried and it works for me, then I try to repeat it.

I love to make Paella with lots of seafood. Hmmm, where is that picture of mine???

[MexicoKaren]

"Mexican" Rice is the highly seasoned, yellow or red rice side dish that you get with Tex-Mex food. " - AllenOK

In fact, (surprise!) it is also the rice that you get in Mexico with Mexican food. But it is made differently in each restaurant...sometimes it is red, sometimes white, sometimes yellow. It always has onion, garlic and other vegetables in it, often peas and/or carrots. But the real difference is the broth it is cooked in - here, we can buy Knorr's good instant broth in several flavors, including chicken and beef and...(drum roll) TOMATO! It is a little spicy - I don't know what they put in it, but it is so good for cooking rice. If you have a Mexican grocery store near you, take a look for it. It is worth the search.

[mbasiszta]

Originally Posted by MexicoKaren

"Mexican" Rice is the highly seasoned, yellow or red rice side dish that you get with Tex-Mex food. " - AllenOK

In fact, (surprise!) it is also the rice that you get in Mexico with Mexican food. But it is made differently in each restaurant...sometimes it is red, sometimes white, sometimes yellow. It always has onion, garlic and other vegetables in it, often peas and/or carrots. But the real difference is the broth it is cooked in - here, we can buy Knorr's good instant broth in several flavors, including chicken and beef and...(drum roll) TOMATO! It is a little spicy - I don't know what they put in it, but it is so good for cooking rice. If you have a Mexican grocery store near you, take a look for it. It is worth the search.

You have the makings of an expert, being in Mexico. In the law business, the definition of an expert is "anyone testifying over 50 miles from home". hahaha

My Mexican Rice is never the same. But if I remember to take my time and sauté the rice until it is nice and dark, the rice is usually good. It has that certain flavor this I remember from a real Mexican Chef, Mama Ruiz.

You are right about the broth. She preferred her homemade chicken broth, but she also used others - sometimes a neighbor brought some by for her, for instance. Her rice was always wonderful.

Thanks for your input.