Recipe: Arroz Verde (Mexican)

ARROZ VERDE

1 1/2 cups unconverted long-grain rice
1/3 cup safflower oil, melted chicken fat or melted lard
3 tbsp finely chopped white onion
2 chilies poblanos, charred, peeled and cut in strips
4 cups chicken broth
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup firmly packed, roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup firmly packed, roughly chopped epazote or cilantro
sea salt to taste
green rice

Put the rice into a bowl and pour very hot water over to cover; stir and set aside for 10 minutes.

Drain in a strainer and rinse in cold water; drain again and set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy pan, stir the rice into it, and fry over fairly high heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, for about 5 minutes.

Add the onion and chile strips and continue frying for 4 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Meanwhile, put 1 cup of the broth into a blender jar; add the garlic, parsley, and epazote and blend until smooth. Add this to the frying rice and continue frying and reducing the puree over quite high heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the rice is dry.

Stir in the rest of the broth, add salt to taste, and cook over fairly high heat, uncovered, until the liquid has been absorbed and there are air holes in the rice.

Cover with a towel and lid and continue cooking over low heat for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and set aside, still covered, in a warm place for the rice to swell up.

Before serving, turn the rice over with a fork from the bottom where a lot of the flavor and oil will have settled.

Servings: 6
Source: The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy