The PERFECT Side
Rice is my absolute FAVORITE side dish. Mexican white rice, yellow rice, cilantro lime rice, whatever the rice, I LOVE it. But this traditional Mexican rice has to be my all-time favorite.
The secret: It’s flavored with a whole, fresh jalapeño and a few cilantro stems that brings the flavor to a whole other level.
If you’re sensitive to spice, don’t worry! The jalapeño doesn’t add any heat to the dish, just FLAVOR. You can enjoy the delicious jalapeño flavor without burning your taste buds off. I’ve served this rice to a variety of people, including children, and have never had anyone say that it’s spicy, so I assure you you’re safe.
Ingredients
Aside from long-grain rice, the ingredients you’ll need are:
– Oil
To fry our rice in and give it the texture we need. Also helps the rice at the bottom to not stick.
– Onion
– Tomato
– Garlic
These are the ingredients we’ll blend into a sauce and add to our rice to give it its traditional Mexican flavor and its beautiful orange color.
– Vegan Chik’n Bouillon 3
Another ingredient that gives the rice a lot of its flavor. I dissolve 3 bouillon cubes in 3 cups of water to make 3 cups of chik’n broth. The Edward & Sons Not Chik’n cubes pictured above are what I have found to work the best. You can use other brands and broths, just keep in mind that the flavor may vary greatly. I’ve tried making this rice with different broths and broth bases, but (while delicious) have found these bouillon cubes to best match the taste of traditional Mexican rice. The rice will turn out great with almost any broth, so at the very worst, you just have a variety of delicious flavored rice to choose from!
– Jalapeño
– Cilantro
These are our aromatics. Adding these is what’s going to give our rice that delicious traditional flavor. You can omit them and still have a delicious Mexican rice, but because of the flavor they add, I’d suggest including them!
– Salt
Salt is something that’s going to have to be adjusted to taste and preference, especially if using different broths with different sodium contents. Before adding the lid to cook, I like to taste the rice broth and make sure it’s just slightly saltier than what I want the end result to be.
I’ve noticed that because the rice soaks all of it up, making the broth slightly saltier makes the rice perfectly salted in the end. But again, adjust to your liking.
– MSG
Optional (especially if gluten-free) but HIGHLY reccomended.
Directions
The first thing you want to do is roughly chop your tomato(s) and onion.
Next, add the tomato, onion, and garlic to a blender and blend well to create our tomato sauce. Add the bouillon cubes to 3 cups of hot water and mix to create a broth. Set to the side along with the tomato sauce, jalapeño, and cilantro stems.
With everything else prepped, it’s time to start frying the rice. You’ll need a pan with a lid, preferably with no steam vent. If your lid does have a steam vent, cover with a bit of foil. Because we depend on the steam to fully cook the rice, you want as much steam as possible to stay in the pan.
On medium-high heat, add the oil to the pan. Let it heat up, about 3-4 mins.
Once the oil is hot, add your rice to the pan and stir. You’re going to keep stirring until the grains of rice start to turn a light golden color. If your oil was hot, it should only take a few minutes, about 3-5, so don’t walk away from your rice or it may burn.
Once the rice has turned slightly golden, add the tomato sauce. It will start to fry and turn a darker reddish color. Keep cooking the tomato sauce down until it’s a thick, bubbling consistency. About 4-6 minutes. Once cooked down, add the vegan chik’n broth.
After adding the chik’n broth, mix well and bring to a boil. Once the rice has come to boil, add salt and mix again. This is where you want to taste your rice per your salt preference. I like the broth here to be just slightly saltier than I would like. Once the rice absorbs all the broth, I find the salt level is perfect. Adjust to your preference.
While keeping the rice at a boil, drop the aromatics directly onto the rice. Cover with lid (with no steam vent or with the steam vent covered) and lower the heat to the lowest setting. With the lid kept on and with the heat at the lowest setting, let it sit for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, turn the heat completely off. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID!! Let it sit for another 20 minutes with the heat off and the lid on. The steam that accumulated during cooking will continue to cook the rice until it’s light and fluffy.
After letting it sit an additional 20 minutes with the heat off, remove the lid. Use a fork to remove the aromatics.
With the same fork, start fluffing the rice by gently dragging the fork over it. Start with the top layer and slowly work your way to the bottom. Fluffing it will give the rice a lighter airier texture.
Enjoy!
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Traditional Mexican Rice (Jalapeño Flavored)
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Ingredients
1.5 Cups Rice
2 Tablespoons Oil
3 Cups Vegan Chik’n Broth
2 small or 1 large Roma Tomatoes (about 1.5 cups or 225g)
1/4 Onion (about 1/2 cup or 65g)
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Jalapeño
10 Cilantro stems
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon MSG*
Directions
- Roughly chop the tomatoes and onion and add them to a blender. Add the garlic and blend to create a tomato sauce. Set aside.
- On medium-high heat, add oil to a pan with a lid*. Allow the oil to get hot, then add the rice. Fry until the rice starts to become a light golden color (About 3-5 mins). Make sure to stir the entire time as it may be easy to burn.
- Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Fry until the tomato sauce is a dark reddish color and it’s mostly cooked down.
- Add the chik’n broth. Mix to incorporate the tomato flavor into the broth. Bring to a boil.
- Add salt and mix in.
- Drop in the jalapeño and cilantro stems directly onto the rice.
- Cover with the lid. Lower the heat to the lowest setting and cook for 20 minutes.
- Turn the heat completely off. Let sit another 20 minutes. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID. The remaining steam in the pan will continue to cook the rice.
- Remove the aromatics and use a fork to fluff the rice.
Notes
- Preferably, use a pan that has a lid that doesn’t have a steam vent. If your lid has a steam vent, use a little piece of foil to cover it. Because we rely on the steam to properly cook the rice, you want all of the steam to stay inside the pan.
- Refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- *MSG is optional but HIGHLY recommended.
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