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Arroz con gandules is a Puerto Rican dish made with rice, pigeon peas, and sofrito seasoning. It can include bacon, pork, sausage, and herbs, and is cooked with water and meat. The dish is traditionally served with a layer of crunchy rice on the bottom. Similar dishes include Hoppin’ John and Platillo Moros y Cristianos.
Arroz con gandules is a Puerto Rican food specialty. This single dish consists of rice, pigeon peas, and flavorings. Use a special seasoning mix called sofrito as a flavoring base. Bacon, pork, salt pork, and sausage all feature in different versions of this dish.
Some cooks prepare sofrito as the first step in making arroz con gandules. Green sofrito is made from green peppers, onions, garlic, and cilantro. These ingredients are placed in a blender or food processor and made into a concentrated sauce that is the basis for many Puerto Rican dishes.
In many versions of arroz con gandules, the sofrito is placed in a pan with olive oil and heated to allow the flavors and oils to intensify. Other recipes start by frying the bacon, setting the cooked bacon aside, and using the bacon drippings to cook the sofrito. This adds a smoky flavor to the finished dish.
The next step is to add herbs. Cumin, bay leaves, and oregano are common ingredients, as is a spice blend known as Spanish seasoning. You can also add tomato flavouring, sauce or whole tomatoes. Spanish olives, capers, lime juice and sour cream are sometimes used as garnishes for the finished dish.
While this dish works with any type of meat, pork products are traditionally added. Bacon, salted pork, pork chops or roast can be used. Sausages are also popular and add their own spices to the mix.
The meat is cooked together with rice, water and pigeon peas. Many cooks use canned peas that don’t require extra cooking, although dry parboiled peas can also be used. You need to add enough water to cook the rice.
A layer of aluminum foil is placed over the top of the pot and over the lid. This coating is opened at 10 minute intervals to allow for minimal agitation. An excess of rice can result in soggy rice. The bottom of the pan will often develop a layer of crunchy rice, called pegao. The measure of a cook’s success at making arroz con gandules is often determined by the amount of pegao created.
Rice and peas or beans form the basis for many dishes. In the Southern United States, a dish called Hoppin’ John is made of black-eyed peas, ham hocks, and rice. This is another one-pot meal that is served with a topping of shredded cheese. Platillo Moros y Cristianos is a Cuban dish served on New Year’s Eve; it is made of black beans, rice and spices which are cooked together in a chicken broth and served with a garnish of coriander sprigs.
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