Arroz verde (Green rice)
Green rice is not something I grew up with. Whenever I had rice at my dinner table, it was of the red or white variety.
But since I've found a recipe I like for arroz verde, I've come to love its green-ness and the way it exudes seasonality. The smell of toasted rice, chiles, herbs, and spices fills any space with an inescapable warmness.
Mexican rice is also a fun exercise in the method of frying rice before it's cooked. This gives the rice more toasty notes, more flavors are incorporated into each rice kernel, and it gives the rice an al dente texture.
Ingredients
- 2 cups long-grain white rice
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/4 tsp fennel seed, toasted
- 1 bunch parsley, rough chop
- 5 springs cilantro
- 4 large romaine lettuce leaves, rough chop
- 3 poblano chiles, deseeded and deveined, chopped
- 1/4 cup white onion, chopped
- 2 garlic clove, chopped
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
- Salt, to taste
- 1 lime
Instructions
- Cover rice with hot water, soak for 5 minutes. Drain into colander. Rinse in cold water.
- Heat oil in heavy-bottom pan on high heat. Stir in rice, turning thoroughly until a pale golden color. Drain off oil.
- Add water, fennel seed, parsley, cilantro, lettuce, poblanos, onion, and garlic to blender. Blend until smooth. Add more water sparingly to release blender blades, if needed.
- Add mixture to rice and fry over high heat. Stir and scrape constantly to avoid burning.
- After most of the liquid in the pan has cooked off, add broth and salt, and turn heat down to medium. Cook until all liquid has been cooked off and you start to see small air bubbles appear on surface (about 15 minutes).
- Cover pan and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and let steam for about 25 minutes.
- Garnish with a generous squeeze of lime and serve!