As a typical puertorican we like partying drinking and eating. Although I can sometimes be a picky eater I enjoy discovering, inventing and tasting new recipes. My all time favorites would be Puerto Rican cuisine. Puerto Rican cuisine may sound obvious since I grew up eating that but the food is so rich in flavor because of the variety of seasoning that we use and mix up all together. Puertorican’s while cooking must have the following seasonings: “Adobo” which is a powder made with peper, slat and onions and is mostly used to season the meats but we like to use it in other stuff such as yellow rice and beans to give it that extra boost of flavor. “Sofrito” is a pureed mix of onions, garlic, green peppers and cilantro. This is used for yellow rice, beans soups and stews. Another ingredient that is a must have in a puertorican’s kitchen is the “Sazon” once again a powdered mixture used to give color and extra flavoring to food. And it is used on all the food mentioned above.
My favorite puertorican food would be rice with “gandules” roasted pork and “pasteles”. My second favorite meal would be “mofongo” which is fried green plantains then mashed for that crunchy/ soft textured. Those would be my all time favorite meals. For appetizer we like eating “bacalaitos” which is tiny pieces of codfish mixed with water, flour, salt and a hint of sazon. Mixing all of these ingredients will create a batter similar to a pancake mix. Then you pour oil in a pan and pour the mix so they can fry and you have a crunchy and delicious appetizer.
Another typical meal would be white rice with red beans and fried pork chops. For the side of almost all of our meals we like eating “amarillitos” which is fried riped plantains or fried green plantains which are known for “tostones”. Another type of rice that puertorican’s eat a lot is yellow rice with white beans in it and “mamposteao” rice. For dessert we have a large variety of traditional desserts such as “tembleque” “casuela” “dulce de papaya” “arroz con leche” and many other desserts the list continues.
Since rice with “gandules” is the traditional puertorican rice I will share the recipe with you guys.
Ingredients
2 slices of bacon or ½ cup of cooking ham chopped
½ cup onions chopped
½ cup green pepper chopped
2 clove of garlic minced
1 15oz. can Goya green pigeon peas (gandules) undrained
1 packet sazon Goya with cilantro & achiote
½ cup Goya tomato sauce
3 cups water
2cups rice
Directions:
Heat large skillet over medium heat. Ad bacon, onions, and peppers and cook for about three minutes. Stir in garlic and cook two minutes longer. Add remaining ingredients EXEPCT rice and bring to a boil. Stir in rice; cover and reduce heat simmer for about twenty minutes or until rice is tender. (Serves 8)
Enjoy! 😀
Rice with gandules and roasted pork
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