Chef Lupita
Frijoles Colados Oaxaqueños
Valles Centrales black beans, simmered with hoja de aguacate, strained until satin-smooth, then fried in asiento or pork lard so they spread cleanly across memelas, tlayudas, and enfrijoladas.
Culinary Explorer
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Arroz con Plátano Jarocho
Created by
Veracruz's coastal rice, cooked white with onion, garlic, and broth, then finished with sweet plátano macho fried in manteca until the edges turn dark and caramelized.
Side Dishes
Mexican
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
15 min
Active Time
35 min cook•50 min total
Yield6 servings
Veracruz, especially the jarocho coast from the port down through Sotavento, knows what to do with rice and plátano macho. This is not northern rice. This is Gulf rice, white, loose, fragrant with onion and garlic, finished with ripe plantain fried in manteca until the edges go dark and sweet. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
The plátano macho is the ingredient that tells you where you are. Plantain, yuca, malanga, coconut, rice, these starches carry African and Caribbean memory on Mexican soil, but Veracruz is not Cuba and Veracruz is not Cartagena. The jarocho hand uses garlic, pork lard, broth, and the black beans waiting in the cazuela beside it. Not everything in Mexican cooking needs chile. If you think it does, you have not paid attention.
I first wrote this version in Alvarado, from a woman who served it beside frijoles negros so dark they looked almost blue in the clay pot. She fried the plantains last, never first, because she wanted the lard fresh and the edges glossy when the rice came to the table. She tapped the spoon on the cazuela and told me, "el arroz debe quedar suelto." Loose grains. Sweet plantain. Black beans. Así se hace y punto.
Veracruz became one of Mexico's main points of exchange after the Spanish founded the port in 1519, and its cooking absorbed Indigenous, Spanish, African, and Caribbean techniques through centuries of trade and forced migration. Plantains originated in Southeast Asia, traveled through Africa, and entered the Americas through Iberian colonial routes, where African-descended cooks helped make them central to coastal cuisines from the Gulf to the Caribbean. In Veracruz, rice with fried ripe plantain is part of the Afro-jarocho table, commonly served with frijoles negros rather than treated as a sweet garnish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
long-grain white rice
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
2 tablespoons, plus 3 tablespoons
divided
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
finely chopped
hot chicken broth or light pork broth
Quantity
2 1/2 cups
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
fresh epazote sprig (optional)
Quantity
1
for the beans if serving alongside
ripe plátanos machos
Quantity
2
yellow with black spots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces
warm frijoles negros de olla
Quantity
1 cup
for serving
lime halves (optional)
Quantity
for the table
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| long-grain white rice | 1 1/2 cups |
| manteca de cerdodivided | 2 tablespoons, plus 3 tablespoons |
| white onionfinely chopped | 1/2 medium |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 2 |
| hot chicken broth or light pork broth | 2 1/2 cups |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| fresh epazote sprig (optional)for the beans if serving alongside | 1 |
| ripe plátanos machosyellow with black spots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces | 2 |
| warm frijoles negros de ollafor serving | 1 cup |
| lime halves (optional) | for the table |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 3-quart saucepan with a tight lid
- •10-inch cast iron skillet or clay cazuela for frying the plantain
- •Fine-mesh sieve for draining rice
- •Barro rojo serving cazuela
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the rice
Rinse the rice in a bowl of cool water, changing the water three or four times, until it runs mostly clear. Drain it well in a sieve for 10 minutes. Veracruz cooks want this rice loose, not sticky. If you leave surface starch clinging to the grains, the pot will tell on you.
- 2
Sofreír the aromatics
Melt 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, just until it smells alive. Do not brown the garlic. This is white rice, not a roasted salsa.
- 3
Coat the grains
Add the drained rice to the pan and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until every grain is glossy with lard and the rice sounds dry against the spoon. This step keeps the grains separate. La manteca es el sabor, and here it is also the structure.
- 4
Cook the rice
Pour in the hot broth and add the salt. Stir once, bring to a gentle simmer, then cover tightly and lower the heat to the smallest flame. Cook for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid to inspect it. Rice needs quiet. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes more.
- 5
Fry the plantain
While the rice rests, melt 3 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a skillet over medium heat. Add the plátano macho slices in one layer. Fry 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the edges turn dark gold and the centers soften. Ripe plantain should smell sweet, almost like caramel. If it is still pale and firm, it was not ripe enough.
- 6
Fold and serve
Fluff the rice with a fork. Fold in half of the fried plantain gently, so you do not crush the grains. Spoon the rice into a barro rojo cazuela and arrange the remaining plantain on top. Serve with warm frijoles negros de olla, ideally cooked with epazote. The beans are not decoration. They belong on the table with this rice.
Chef Tips
- •Use plátano macho with yellow skin and black spots. Green plantain is for tostones and savory starch. Fully ripe plantain is for this dish. If it is hard when you press it, wait a day.
- •Do not use vegetable oil if you have manteca de cerdo. The lard gives the rice body and makes the plantain edges brown properly. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •The broth should be light. Heavy roasted stock will bully the rice. Chicken broth or a clean pork broth works best.
- •Frijoles negros de olla belong beside this. Cook them with onion, garlic, and epazote, then serve them from a clay cazuela. The rice and beans finish each other.
Advance Preparation
- •Rinse and drain the rice up to 2 hours ahead. Keep it in the sieve or spread on a tray so the grains dry before cooking.
- •Frijoles negros de olla can be made 2 days ahead and reheated gently. Their flavor improves overnight.
- •Fry the plantain just before serving. Reheated plantain softens and loses the glossy edges that make this dish work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
12 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
10 mg
Sodium
800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
65 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
7 g
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