Recipe(tried): Mexican Rice Restaurant Style

MEXICAN RICE RESTAURANT STYLE

This recipe makes a dry, fluffy style, Mexican rice that
is served as a side dish at Mexican restaurants. This involves rinsing the rice, frying on the stovetop and then baking in the oven.

2 cups long grain white rice (Comet, Uncle Ben's, etc.), uncooked, rinsed for 2 minutes
1/3 cup canola oil
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
4 Tbsp dried onion flakes
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon table salt or to taste (depending on how salty the chicken broth is)
2 or 3 Tbsp ketchup
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel, etc), with liquid

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place uncooked rice in a strainer and rinse under running water until it runs clear. Rinse about 2-minutes. This is to remove as much starch as possible. (This is important to create a dry, fluffy, non-sticky Mexican restaurant style rice.) Drain rice, making sure to shake out as much water as possible.

Heat canola oil on medium high heat in an enameled, cast iron, Dutch oven (3-qt to 6-qt size) on the stove top. Drop a few rice grains in the oil, when hot. When they sizzle, add all remaining rice. Stir constantly and fry rice until it is light golden brown and slightly translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes.

In another saucepan, combine the chicken broth, onion flakes, garlic powder, ground cumin, dried parsley, salt, ketchup and canned tomatoes with chiles and its liquid. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Reduce to a simmer and keep warm until needed.

When the rice, in Dutch oven, is light golden brown, stir in from the saucepan, the broth-tomato and mixture. Stir well and bring to a boil in the Dutch oven.

When rice in Dutch oven reaches a boil, place lid on dutch oven and place in a 350 degree F preheated oven. Bake 15 minutes then open dutch oven and stir well. Replace dutch oven lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes until done. Remove from oven and stir well. Cover and allow to rest about 5 minutes before serving.

Makes about 4 cups of rice.