Huge Mexican Rice
Prep
5m
Cook
25m
Total
30m
Bigly says
Mexican rice. MEXICAN RICE! We're doing it today. The HUGE Mexican rice — and this matters, this is important, because REAL Mexican rice, the kind they make at the good restaurants where they bring you chips before you even sit down, the way a civilized society should operate, is NOT the orange mush you've been served at the sad chain places. The orange mush is a tragedy. The orange mush is what happens when somebody who doesn't care meets a rice cooker. Total embarrassment.
A guy named Ramón taught me this. He's the truth. He stood next to me in a kitchen the size of a closet and pointed at the pan and said one word: 'toast.' Then he walked away. That was the whole lesson and it changed my life. The neighbor who taught my grandmother her version lived to be 102 — could be a coincidence, probably not. Real Mexican rice has FLUFF. It has SEPARATION. Every grain stands ON ITS OWN like a tiny independent republic. The grains are not stuck together. The grains are not soggy. The grains are PROUD. They are tomato-kissed and broth-bathed and they have been TOASTED in oil before any liquid touches them. That is the secret. Plain and simple.
Toast the rice. TOAST IT. Until it smells nutty. Until it goes from pearly white to a soft golden tan, like a beach vacation but for rice. Then and only then do you add the tomato and the broth. Do it in any other order and you've made WALLPAPER PASTE. People come up to me, they say, 'Bigly, the rice was wallpaper paste, what did I do wrong.' I tell them. They didn't toast. They never toast. The world doesn't toast enough. We're going to fix that today.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cupslong-grain white rice(long-grain, not jasmine, not basmati, long-grain)
- 3 tbspvegetable oil
- 1/2yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1/4 cuptomato sauce (canned)
- 1 tbsptomato paste(for color and depth)
- 2.5 cupschicken broth, low-sodium(or veg broth, I don't care, just not water, never water)
- 1/2 tspground cumin
- 1 tspkosher salt
- 1bay leaf
- 1/2 cupfrozen peas and carrots (optional)
- 2 tbspfresh cilantro, chopped (for serving)
Steps
- 1
Rinse the rice in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water until the water runs clear. Drain very well — wet rice will not toast.
- 2
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the rice and stir constantly for 4-6 minutes until the grains turn a pale golden brown and smell nutty.
- 3
Add the onion and cook 2 minutes more, stirring, until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
- 4
Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and cumin. Cook 1 minute, stirring, to bloom the paste.
- 5
Pour in the broth, add salt and the bay leaf, and stir once to combine. Bring to a boil.
- 6
Reduce heat to low, cover tightly, and simmer 18 minutes without lifting the lid. No peeking — every peek costs you a minute of steam.
- 7
If using, scatter the frozen peas and carrots on top in the last 5 minutes (just lay them on the surface, don't stir).
- 8
Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes. Then fluff with a fork, discard the bay leaf, top with cilantro, and serve.
One more thing
This rice goes with everything Mexican we make on this site. Burritos, chimichangas, enchiladas, fajitas, eggs at breakfast topped with hot sauce — it's a universal sidekick, the Robin to your Batman, except Robin is actually carrying the show this time, because the rice MAKES the plate. Without good rice, the whole plate is sad. With good rice, the whole plate is a CELEBRATION. Make it tonight. The plate is waiting. Believe me. Now go eat.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about Huge Mexican Rice.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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