Chinese Sausage (Lap Cheong) Fried Rice

      

    Ingredients: 

• 3 Chinese Sausages, sliced diagonally
• 1 Medium Onion, diced
• 1 Carrot, diced small
• 2 Scallions, sliced diagonally
• 2 cloves, garlic, finely minced
• 5 cups, White Rice, cooked
• ¾ teaspoon, Salt
• ¼ teaspoon, Sugar
• 2 teaspoons, Hot Water
• ½ teaspoon, Sesame Oil
• 2 teaspoons, Soy Sauce
• ½ teaspoon, Dark Soy Sauce
• pinch, White Pepper
• 1 teaspoon, Shaoxing Wine (optional)
• 4 tablespoons, Vegetable Oil (divided)
• 3 large Eggs, beaten
• ⅔ cup, Green Peas, cooked
• 1 teaspoon, Shaoxing Wine (optional)

    Directions:

• Prepare a sauce in a small bowl, by adding salt, sugar, hot water, sesame oil, regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and ground white pepper. Stir thoroughly and set aside.
• Heat your wok over medium high heat and spread 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil around in the wok.
• Add the beaten eggs to the oil, scrambling them and breaking them up into smaller pieces with your wok spatula just until done. Transfer them to a large bowl and set aside.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil around your wok. Add the sausage, and stir-fry for 20 seconds. Add the onion, scallions, carrots and garlic to wok and stir fry 1-2 minutes until onion is translucent. Remove and add to large bowl. Set aside.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil around wok. Add the rice and using spatula flatten out and break up any clumps. Stir fry the rice to heat it through.
• Once the rice is warmed, pour the sauce you prepared, evenly over the rice. Mix using a scooping motion with your spatula for 1-2 minutes, until the rice is evenly coated with sauce.
• Add all the ingredients you set aside in large bowl to wok. Add green peas, and fold everything into the rice. Stir fry the for another minute.

Arroz Griego

Tip:  Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup bacon

2 cups rice

1 cup beef broth

1 cup onion soup

1 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup green bell pepper, julienned

1 cup cabbage, chopped

1 garlic glove, finely minced

1/2 stick butter

1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

In a deep heavy bottomed skillet, fry the bacon, then drain the rendered fat, remove bacon and set aside.

 

To the same skillet, over medium high heat, add butter, garlic, bell pepper and onion and sauté for 4 minutes, until onion is lightly browned. 

Add water, beef broth, onion soup, rice, bacon, and cabbage.

Bring to boil, cover, lower heat to low and cook for 25 minutes.

After the first 10 minutes, uncover, turn rice, recover and finish cooking the other 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Puerto Rican Arroz con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas)

Tip: Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups long grain white rice (washed and rinsed well)
3 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons Recaito
1/4 cup chopped pork salt

1/4 cup chopped bacon
2 tablespoons Spanish olives

1 tablespoon capers

1/4 cup chopped onions

1 clove garlic, minced
1 (15 oz.) can green pigeon peas, drained
1 envelope sazon with culantro and achiote
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground comino (cumin)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon

Directions:

Start by heating the oil in a pot at high heat, and when the oil is nice and hot, add the salt pork.

When the salt pork is cooked but not crisp, add the bacon. 

Once browned, add Recaito, (a unique cilantro-based seasoning base that enhances the flavor) onions and garlic, olives, capers, comino (cumin), oregano, black pepper and envelope of sazon. Stir fry all together for about 1 minute.

 

Add pigeon peas, tomato paste, then add the water and bring to boil.

Wash rice under cold running water until water is clear and drain. Add rice to pot, chicken boullion and stir.

 

Once the liquid has began to boil and most of the water has cooked off, lower heat to lowest setting, and stir 1 more time, top with bay leaves, then cover with tight lid.

Let this cook for about 10 minutes on a low heat setting, remove cover and bay leaves, turn rice, and continue to cook at low heat for another 15 minutes until the rice is tender. Enjoy!

Tip:  Do not stir, but turn the rice with a large serving spoon. For a variation, add some cubed ham when adding the sofrito. The best part of this rice is the crust which forms on the bottom, called the pegao!

Spanish Rice (Puerto Rican)

Tip: Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

2 cups rice, extra long grain

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup salt pork, chopped, 1/4"pieces

1/2 cup white onion chopped

1/8 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup pitted olive with pimentos, chopped

1 tablespoon capers

1 clove garlic, minced

2 packs of Sazon (Coriander and Annato flavored, see below)
2 1/2 cups water

Salt to taste

Directions:

In a heated 5 1/2 heavy bottomed pot, over medium high heat, add the olive oil, let heat up, about 30 seconds, add the salt pork and stir occasionally, until salt pork has browned.

Add cilantro, onion, capers, red bell pepper, olives with pimentos, and garlic. Stir for about 1 minute, add the contents of the Sazon packs. Add rice and water, and salt to taste. Be careful not to over salt. Depending on the brand of salt pork, it can be very salty. Taste the liquid for saltiness. You may not need to add any salt.

Bring to boil, let the water reduce until right at the rice level, cover with tight lid and lower heat to low.  Let cook for 25 minutes, until rice is tender.  Turn off and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Tip: Most grocers today carry Goya Sazon. It usually be found in either the hispanic food or international food sections. With literally hundreds of different Spanish Rice recipes, the addition of the salt pork and Sazon bring this rice recipe to a whole new level of great taste! I've been making my rice this way for years!

Arroz Verde (Green Rice)

Tip: Read instructions completely before preparing.

Ingredients: 

2 cups long grain rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup finely minced onion
2 clove garlic, minced

3 Anaheim chilies

1/2 cup firmly packed fresh cilantro sprigs (about 1/2 oz.)
1 cup firmly packed fresh stemmed spinach leaves (about 1-1/2 oz.)
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon

Directions:

Roast and peel the chilies. You can use your broiler and broil the chilies for about 6 minutes on each side or until brown and toasted. Let cool and remove the skin, stems and seeds.

In a blender add chilies, cilantro, spinach, and broth and blend until puréed. Add the milk, salt, chicken bouillon and blend a bit more until well combined.

In a 5 1/2 quart heavy-based pot, over medium heat, heat the olive oil and butter. Wait until the butter is melted, then add the rice and sauté, stirring every 30 seconds, until it just begins to brown, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the onion and garlic and cook 1 minute, continuously stirring. Add the contents of the blender, stir well, turn the heat to high, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to low. Cover the pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Stir the rice slowly and carefully once, cover, and cook another 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Servings: 8

Tip: There are many versions of Arroz Verde (Green Rice) in Mexico. Many recipes call for Poblano chilies, which add speciness to the rice. You can use poblano if you like. This rice dish goes great with any Mexican dish!

Garlic Fried Rice

Tip: Read directions carefully before preparing.

Ingredients:

2 cup rice cooked plain white rice

2 garlic glove, sliced

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice the garlic and chop the green onion.

In a thick, heavy-bottomed skillet or wok and over medium-high, add the oil and let heat up, about 30 seconds. Add garlic and cook until pale gold (do not burn as garlic will be bitter!) and crispy, stirring frequently.

Add the green onion and stir.

Add the loosened rice and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix well.

Tip: This rice is excellent by itself or you can pair it with grilled pork chops, sliced tomatoes or a nice salad. You can also add scrambled eggs and bacon to make it a breakfast meal.  Experiment and Enjoy!

White Rice

 White Rice
 Ingredients:
4 oz salt pork, diced
2 cups rice, extra long grain
3 1/2 cups of water
Salt to taste

Directions:
Wash rice under cold running water and drain, set aside.  Heat heavy bottomed pot and brown the diced salt pork in small pieces. Stir in rice and add the water.

Pork salts vary on who the producers are and how salty they are. Usually you do not need to add salt, but after adding the water, stir and see if it may need just a pinch of salt.
Bring to a boil, uncovered, on moderate heat until water is absorbed. (about 4-5 minutes). Cover tightly and lower the heat to simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let the rice sit for 10 minutes before serving.

The added bonus of this recipe is the “pegao” or crusted over rice that forms when grains of rice stick to the bottom of a heavy cast aluminum pot after it cooks. For many, it is the best part of this dish.

Pink Beans and Rice (Arroz con Habuichuelas)

Pink Beans and Rice ( Arroz con Habuichuelas )

Pink Beans Recipe
Ingredients:
6 oz bacon
1/2 medium white onion
1 can of Goya Pink Beans
1 tablespoon Achoite Oil
1 tablespoon chopped Goya Spanish stuffed olives
1 teaspoon Goya capers
1 tablespoon Goya Recaito seasoing
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt or more to your taste, remember that the Achoite oil already has salt and the coloring for the beans.

Directions:
In a heavy 2 1/2 quart pot, cut the bacon in pieces and fry , and then drain all the bacon fat once the bacon is nice and crispy.
Chop the onions in large pieces, and add onion, sauté for 3 minutes until slightly softened.
Drain and rinse the beans
Add the beans, olives, capers, Achoite Oil, Recaito seasoning and water.
Bring to a boil, then lower heat and slow simmer for 25 minutes.

Tip: What is Recaito?
Goya Recaito, is a unique cilantro-based seasoning. Goya sautés cilantro, green pepper, onion and garlic in olive oil to create this rich, thick base that enhances the flavor of your beans, rice, soups and stews. If you cannot find Goya products in your store, you can order them from My Amazon store under the foods category.

White Rice Recipe
Ingredients:
4 oz salt pork, diced
2 cups rice, extra long grain
2 1/2 cups of water
Salt to taste 

Directions:
Wash rice under cold running water and drain.
Heat heavy bottomed pot brown the diced salt pork.
Stir in rice and add the water. Salt to taste but be careful not to over salt. Pork salts vary on who the producers are and how salty they are. After adding the water, stir and taste to see if it has enough.
Boil, uncovered, on moderate heat until water is absorbed and rice is dry (about 4-5 minutes).
Cover tightly and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let the rice sit for 10 minutes before serving.

The added bonus of this recipe is the “pegao” or crusted over rice that forms when grains of rice stick to the bottom of a heavy cast aluminum pot after it cooks. For many, it is the best part of this dish.

To Serve:

In a medium size bowl, add a scoop of rice, then ladle the beans around the rice. Ladle a couple of spoons of the bean liquid. See above photo. Enjoy!