By: Khirissa Phipps-Santiago
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup country ham or bacon, diced (optional)
1/3 cup sofrito
3 cups water or low sodium chicken broth
1 ½ tsp sazón con achiote y culantro
1 cube chicken bouillon or more if needed
2 tbsp tomato paste or 1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning or oregano either one works
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped optional
2-3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons pimento stuffed olives optional
15 ounce can Pigeon Peas (Gandules), drained and rinsed or 2 cups of fresh or frozen
2 cups parboiled rice
I would wait impatiently as I watched the sun set melt over the sky with its warm orange and pink shades. As the sun went down I knew it was getting closer for my family to arrive for the Christmas gathering with the many flavorful meals waiting to be served and enjoyed by everyone. As I rush downstairs I can see my mom taking out the cheap tablespoons from the drawers so she can add a small splash of olive oil into the already warm caldero, as the olive oil heats up she pulls out the freshly made sofrito from the fridge and carefully measures out ⅓ of a cup of sofrito.
Every year I remember this dish being made for holidays, mainly Christmas, the flavors filling up the house with all the freshly cut ingredients. The fragrant smells from the ingredients and dishes always brought a sense of warmth to me during the holidays because I knew no matter what I would always have these special moments with my family to remember, always having a positive memory correlating to these times. My mom always enjoyed the holidays because we would all spend time together playing card games with each other, with laughter filling the room and the music playing it was always enjoyable.
My mom would always apologize for never having these big holiday parties like she used to have as a child. She would always tell me stories about how she would stay up with her mom making food to bring the next day to the family parties with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins all hanging out in one place until it was midnight. She would always talk about how much she loved those parties but I knew she was always doing her best for me and my brother even if that meant not having the big parties.
In between all of the stories my mom would have me mix in the Sazon, tomato sauce and chicken bouillon into the calderon, she would hand me the wooden spoon and would tell me to mix everything until all the ingredients were combined. After I finished mixing she would add in the drained pigeon peas, oregano, bay leaves, water, and a pinch of cilantro then she would let everything come to a boil.
Once everything was boiling my mom would tell me to go and rinse the rise and then add it into the caldero with the rest of the ingredients. She would tell me with the warmest smile “this is how the rice gets that yummy flavor you love”. She then covered the rice allowing the rice to absorb all the liquid and would let it steam for about 20-25 minutes.
As I grow older I acknowledge that this recipe will stick with me for my whole life and that everytime I decide to cook it, it will always bring me back to a happy time with comforting memories of my family. Once the ringing of the timer goes off I know that the rice is finally ready, I grow impatient in my seat waiting to be served and enjoy my favorite meal made by my mom.