Arroz Jarocho con Plátanos Fritos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10-inch clay cazuela or heavy saucepan with tight lid
• •Wide skillet for frying plátano macho
• •Wooden spoon
• •Fine-mesh strainer for draining rice

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the rice

   Place the rice in a bowl and cover with warm water. Swirl it with your hand until the water turns cloudy, then drain. Repeat once more. Cover again with warm water and let the rice soak for 10 minutes. Drain very well. This is what keeps the grains separate instead of turning into paste.

2. 2

   Toast the grains

   Heat the neutral oil and 1 tablespoon of the manteca in a 10-inch cazuela or heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the drained rice and stir patiently for 6 to 8 minutes, until the grains turn from chalky white to slightly pearled and smell nutty. Do not brown it hard. Veracruz white rice should stay pale.

3. 3

   Add the aromatics

   Stir in the onion and cook for 2 minutes, just until it softens. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Garlic burns fast, and burned garlic takes over the whole pot. No me vengas con atajos. Watch the pan.

4. 4

   Simmer the rice

   Pour in the hot broth, then add the salt, carrot, peas, whole slit chile jalapeño, and parsley. Stir once, scrape the rice level, and bring it to a steady simmer. Cover, lower the heat to the smallest flame, and cook for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid every three minutes to ask the rice how it feels.

5. 5

   Rest covered

   Turn off the heat and let the pot sit, still covered, for 10 minutes. The rice finishes in its own trapped heat. Remove the parsley and chile jalapeño, then fluff gently with a fork. Each grain should stand apart, tender but not wet.

6. 6

   Fry the plantain

   While the rice rests, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon manteca in a skillet over medium heat. Add the plátano macho slices in one layer and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden with caramelized brown edges. The plantain should be ripe enough to smell sweet before it hits the pan. Green plantain is for another dish.

7. 7

   Serve Jarocho style

   Spoon the rice into a warm clay cazuela or onto a wide Jalapa green ceramic platter. Crown it with the fried plátano macho. Serve with frijoles negros refritos if you want the full Veracruz table. Black beans rule here, not pinto. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Use long-grain white rice. Short-grain rice releases too much starch and makes the pot heavy. Veracruz arroz blanco should be tender, separate, and clean.
• •The plátano macho must be ripe: yellow skin with black spots and a little give when pressed. If it is green, it will fry starchy and firm. That belongs to tostones, not this dish.
• •If you are serving this with beans, make them frijoles negros. In Veracruz, black beans are the house bean. Pinto beans are for other regions. This is a 32-state cuisine.
• •The chile jalapeño in the pot perfumes the rice. It is not there to make the dish hot. Not all Mexican food is built around heat. Some dishes are built around balance.

Advance Preparation

• •The rice can be rinsed and soaked up to 2 hours ahead. Drain it well and spread it on a clean towel so it does not carry extra water into the fat.
• •Cooked rice keeps refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat it covered with a spoonful of water. Fry the plantain fresh, because reheated plátano turns heavy.
• •Carrot and peas can be diced and measured the night before, but do not cut the plantain until you are ready to fry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)