Mexican Rice
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups white rice
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 1/4 onion diced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 tbsp Knorr chicken bouillon
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 2 cups hot water
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 3 sprigs cilantro
Instruction:
Over medium heat, add the oil to a non-stick pan, then fry the onions and garlic.
When the onions and garlic have lightly browned, remove the garlic and set it aside.
Add rice to the pot and toast the rice in the oil, moving it constantly for about 5 minutes or until it becomes slightly puffy and golden brown.
Add the Knorr chicken bouillon and cumin, garlic powder, the mix and continue toasting for another minute.
Blend together the roma tomatoes and fried garlic clove. You should have about (1 cup) of tomato sauce.
Add it to the rice, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. The color should change to warm reddish orange color. At this point, watch the heat to make sure the bottom is not burning. Adjust the heat if you need to.
Add the HOT water to the rice. It has to be hot- if the liquid isn’t bubbling on the sides of the pot, your water is not hot enough. Stir in salt to taste at this point if you’re adding. I recommend about 1/4 tsp salt.
Add the cilantro on top, continue boiling over medium-low heat until some of the water has evaporated. Then turn the heat to the low and cover for 20 minutes. Do NOT lift the lid!
After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and fluff the rice with a fork. There will be a thin layer of tomato sauce at the top- that is what we want. Just gently fluff & mix it into the rice to distribute evenly.
At this point, the rice is ready if you don’t like overly soft rice. But if you want it more soft & fluffy, cover for another 10 minutes (no heat). Enjoy!
