Arroz con Pollo Sinaloense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch heavy clay cazuela or wide cast iron skillet with a tight-fitting lid
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer for rinsing the rice
• •Wooden spoon for toasting the rice without scratching the pot

Instructions

1. 1

   Season and dry the chicken

   Pat every piece of chicken dry with paper towels. Wet skin will not brown. Season the chicken generously on all sides with salt and pepper and let it sit at room temperature for fifteen minutes while you prepare the rest. Cold chicken straight from the refrigerator releases water into the pan and stews instead of searing.

   Bone-in, skin-on chicken is the only chicken for this dish. Boneless breasts will give you a dry, sad arroz con pollo. The bone is flavor and the skin is what protects the meat through the simmer.
2. 2

   Rinse and drain the rice

   Place the rice in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear, about a minute. Shake the strainer well and let the rice drain. This removes the surface starch that would otherwise turn the pot gummy. The rice in arroz con pollo should be loose, every grain separate.

3. 3

   Blend the tomato base

   Combine the tomatoes, the chopped half-onion, the garlic, and the achiote paste in a blender. Blend on high until completely smooth and a deep brick-orange color. The achiote is what gives Sinaloa's arroz con pollo its color. Not turmeric, not saffron, not yellow food coloring. Achiote, the same seed paste used across the southeast for cochinita and across the northwest for marisco rice.

4. 4

   Sear the chicken in lard

   Melt the lard in a wide heavy cazuela or 12-inch deep skillet over medium-high heat. When the fat shimmers, lay in the chicken pieces skin side down. Do not crowd the pan. Work in two batches if you have to. Sear undisturbed for about five minutes per side, until the skin is deep golden and pulls easily from the pan. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Leave every drop of rendered fat in the cazuela. La manteca es el sabor and so is the chicken fat that just joined it.

5. 5

   Toast the rice in the same fat

   Reduce the heat to medium. Add the drained rice to the cazuela. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for three to four minutes. The rice will turn from white to pale ivory and start to smell nutty, like popcorn just before it pops. This is the step most home cooks skip and the one that separates a Sinaloa arroz con pollo from a soft mound of yellow mush. Toasting the grain in the seasoned fat is what holds its structure through the simmer.

   If the rice starts to brown unevenly, your heat is too high. You want a steady, even toast, not scorch marks. The grain should look polished, not freckled.
6. 6

   Add the tomato base

   Pour the blended tomato-achiote puree directly into the cazuela with the toasted rice. It will sputter and hiss. Stir constantly for three minutes. The puree will darken from bright orange to a deeper rust as the raw tomato cooks off and the achiote opens up. The fat will start to separate at the edges. That is your signal to move on.

7. 7

   Add the broth and aromatics

   Pour in the hot chicken broth. Use hot broth, not cold. Cold liquid drops the temperature of the pot and the rice stops cooking, then restarts unevenly. Add the salt, the oregano, the bay leaves, the diced carrot, the strips of poblano, and the whole quarter of onion. Stir once to distribute everything. Taste the broth now. It should taste a touch saltier than you want the finished dish to be. The rice will pull that salt back as it cooks.

8. 8

   Nest the chicken back in

   Lay the seared chicken pieces on top of the rice, skin side up, along with any juices that collected on the plate. Push them down so they are about half-submerged. The skin should stay above the liquid line so it does not turn rubbery. Bring the pot to a gentle simmer over medium heat.

9. 9

   Cover and cook undisturbed

   The moment the broth is at a steady simmer, cover the cazuela with a tight lid, lower the heat to its lowest setting, and walk away. Twenty minutes. Do not lift the lid. Do not stir. Do not peek. Every time you open the pot you let out the steam that is cooking the rice from above. No me vengas con atajos. Set a timer.

10. 10

    Add the peas and rest

    After twenty minutes, lift the lid for the first time. The liquid should be absorbed and you should see small craters on the surface where the rice released steam. Scatter the peas across the top, replace the lid, turn off the heat, and let the pot rest for ten more minutes off the burner. The residual heat finishes the peas without overcooking them and gives the rice time to firm up. This rest is part of the cooking, not an afterthought.

11. 11

    Fluff and serve at the table

    Pull out the bay leaves and the spent quarter of onion. Take the cazuela straight to the table. Lift the chicken pieces aside, fluff the rice gently with a fork to redistribute the carrot, peas, and poblano, then set the chicken back on top. Serve in deep plates with lime wedges, sliced avocado, pickled jalapenos, and warm corn tortillas. Squeeze the lime over the rice the moment it hits the plate. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. A mix of thighs, drumsticks, and split breasts works best because they cook in roughly the same time when the breasts are kept on the bone. Boneless skinless chicken breast is a compromise that gives you nothing back. The bone is flavor and the skin is the lid that protects the meat.
• •Achiote paste is sold in small red bricks in any Mexican grocery. The Yucatecan brand El Yucateco is the most common. If your market does not carry it, ask. It keeps for a year wrapped in the refrigerator and you will use it in cochinita, in tikin xic, in this rice. It is worth tracking down. Do not substitute turmeric. They are not the same color and they are not the same flavor.
• •Long-grain rice is the right choice here. Short-grain or medium-grain absorbs too much liquid and turns sticky. The sinaloense version wants every grain separate, glossy with fat, stained orange from the achiote.
• •If your tomatoes are pale and out of season, roast them on a comal for ten minutes before blending. The char concentrates what little flavor a winter tomato has. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the mercado is selling today, not what looks good on a Pinterest board.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken can be seasoned with salt and pepper and refrigerated up to one day ahead. Bring it to room temperature for fifteen minutes before searing.
• •The tomato-achiote puree can be blended up to one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before adding to the toasted rice so it does not shock the pot.
• •Arroz con pollo is best the day it is made. Leftovers reheat well in a covered skillet with a splash of broth, but the rice will lose some of its loose, separate texture. It does not freeze.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)