Rice Three Ways
Rice. It’s the most important crop grown in the world, rice is grown on every continent except Antartica. It has shaped cultures, cuisines, and countries. It’s life.
Rice is inexpensive, filling, and extremely versatile. I’m sure it’s the reason why so many different cultures share rice as the backbone of their cuisine. And Puerto Rican culture is no exception. Rice was the first thing that I learned how to make growing up. Scrambled eggs were second.
I vividly remember watching my grandmothers and my mother pour the rice into the calderos on the stove and the smell of sofrito filling up the entire house. Rice is comfort to me and it’s one of the dishes that I enjoy making the most for other people.
What I’m sharing today? Three different ways that I ate rice growing up. Aside from the traditional standby of arroz con habichuelas (rice with stewed beans), two other rice dishes we kept in rotation were arroz con maíz (rice with corn) and arroz con atún (rice with tuna).
You can easily make these to pair with any kind of protein or serving them with beans, but I typically make the rice with tuna as a meal in itself. The cooking methods are going to be exactly the same here minus a few seasonings. Let’s get cooking!
Arroz con Maíz (Rice with Corn)
Serves: 4
Cook time: 25 minutes
Vegetable oil
3 tbsp Simple Sofrito
1 cup white rice
1 packet Goya Salad & Vegetable Seasoning
2 cups water
Kosher salt
Black pepper
2 cups frozen sweet corn
In a medium to large pot, add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Sauté the sofrito for about 3 minutes or until it’s fragrant. Next, add the rice and toast for a few minutes and stir well making sure that all of the rice grains are coated with oil and sofrito.
Next, add the Goya Salad & Vegetable seasoning packet and water. Stir well. Season with kosher salt and black pepper to your liking. Bring the rice to a boil and once most of the water evaporates from the pot, stir the rice, and then cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and let the rice steam for 20 minutes. Prior to serving, stir in the frozen corn and let the corn heat through. Serve as a side dish or enjoy alone!
Arroz con Atún (Rice with Tuna)
Serves: 6
Cook time: 25 minutes
Vegetable oil
4 tbsp Simple Sofrito
3 cans chunk albacore tuna in water, drained
1 packet Goya Sazón con Achiote
1.5 cups white rice
3 cups water
Kosher salt
Black pepper
In a large pot, add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Over medium-high heat, sauté the sofrito until it’s fragrant, about 3 minutes. Then, add the drained tuna and sazón packet. Stir well making sure that the tuna is coated in sofrito and sazón mixture. Then add the rice, stirring to toast the rice and make sure all the grains are coated.
Next, add the water and adjust your season with kosher salt and black pepper to your liking. Bring the rice and tuna to a boil and once most of the water evaporates from the pot, stir the rice, and then cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and let the rice steam for 20 minutes. Serve immediately. My favorite way to have arroz con atún is piping hot with some freshly fried tostones.
¡Buen provecho!