How to Make Spanish Rice
How to Make Spanish Rice Making Spanish rice is a fairly fast and easy process. It involves browning the rice, adding the ingredients, and cooking the rice. Before you begin you will need the following ingredients: cooking oil (vegetable or canola), long grain rice (I prefer Mahatma Jasmine), a tomato, an onion, water, and tomato bullion. The following seasonings are optional: Sazon Goya con azafran, Sazon Goya con culantro/achiote. found on aisle at most grocery stores)You will also need a two quart sauce pan with a lid (a larger pan may be used, but the rice will cook faster, therefore the cooking time will vary), a large spoon, and a gas or electric stove top. You need to take caution not to brown the rice too fast. If you cook the Spanish rice according to the following process, the rice will be soft and moist, with no standing liquid in the pan. First you will need to brown the rice.
In order to do this, you will need to add a half cup of cooking oil to a two quart sauce pan (a larger pan will work, but the rice will have more room to cook, therefore it will cook faster and take less time). Next, pre-heat the oil on medium heat for about two minutes. Then add two cups of long grain rice to the pre-heated oil. (I prefer Mahatma Jasmine long grain rice because it cooks fluffier and it looks better) Continue to cook the rice on medium heat, stirring often with a large spoon. While the rice is browning, chop a small tomato and half of a medium onion.
When the rice starts to brown, you will need to stir the rice more frequently. The rice will burn if you fail to stir it often or have the heat too high. The rice will be a golden brown color when it is ready for the next process. Browning the rice usually takes about fifteen minutes. The second process is adding the ingredients. First, stir in the chopped onions and tomatoes. Then add five and a half cups of water and stir. Let the water heat, but not to boiling. When the water appears hot, add five teaspoons of Knorr tomato bullion.
Then add two packets of each: Sazon Goya con azafran (orange/yellow box), Sazon Goya con culantro/achiote (two tone orange box). (This can be found on the Mexican aisle at most grocery stores. The Sazon Goya is optional. I use it because it gives the rice a little more color and I think a better flavor). Stir the mixture until the seasonings are well dissolved. Place the lid on the rice. You should then reduce the heat at this point to medium/low. The final step in cooking the Spanish rice doesn’t take long. I think it is the fastest process of the three.
I usually let the rice cook for about thirteen-eighteen minutes. I do not stir the rice at all during this final step. I open the lid every few minutes to make sure the rice is not cooking too fast. You should see liquid for at least the first eight minutes or so. When you do not stir the rice, it appears fluffier and not so mushy looking. The Spanish rice will be ready when you no longer see standing liquid in the pan. You can carefully insert the large spoon down to the bottom of the pan of Spanish rice (without stirring) to make sure the rice is not cooking too fast and to see if the rice is ready.
The rice will be soft when it is ready. Keep the lid on the pan until you are ready to serve it. If you have followed the previous steps of this process correctly, your Spanish rice will be fluffy and soft. If you browned the rice too fast, it will be hard and will not fully cook as it should. The rice will also have a burnt taste. In the event this happens, reduce the heat while you are browning the rice or stir more frequently the next time you make Spanish rice.
If the Spanish rice is too dry or hard, it may be possible you had your heat to high after adding the ingredients. The next time you should cook it on a lower heat, or add a little more water. You may take into consideration that some stoves may vary. This process was done with an electric stove. You can make little tweaks in this process if you find it necessary. You can reduce the heat if the rice appears to cook to fast. The rice seldom ever cooks too slowly. If it cooks too slowly, it will usually just take a little longer to cook.
