Puerto Rican Arroz con Gandules

Source of photo: https://hispanickitchen.com/recipes/arroz-con-gandules/

Recipe courtesy of Goya: https://www.goya.com/en/recipes/arroz-con-gandules

Goya though its origin is not from Puerto Rico, is the most well known brand for ingredients in Puerto Rico. Many Puerto Ricans rely on the Goya brand for beans, olive oil, seasonings, and much more.

History of Arroz con gandules

The history of this dish started around the 16th century in Puerto Rico when the techniques on how to grow rice on the island were becoming effective (Estades, 2016). In addition, this dish was called a compound rice and it was created in order to have more food available for parties as well as making it possible to cook two different foods into one dish (Estades, 2016).

The ingredients especially from the brand of Goya can be found in most supermarkets as long as they sell Hispanic/Latino foods. The recipe is listed as the following,

1tbsp. Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ lb. country ham

cubed ½ green bell pepper, chopped (about ½ cup)

½ yellow onion, chopped (about ½ cup)

2 packets Sazón Goya with Coriander and Annatto

1 tbsp. Goya Minced Garlic

2 tsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp. Goya Oregano

1½ cups Goya Medium Grain Rice 1 can (15 oz.)

Goya green Pigeon Peas 4 oz.

Goya Tomato Sauce ¼ cup

Goya Manzanillas Olives pited with Minced Pimientos, sliced.

Source: https://www.goya.com/en/recipes/arroz-con-gandules

Equipment needed:

A large cooking spoon

A Medium sized cauldron with lid

Measuring cups

Measure spoon

Knife and cutting board

Can opener

Accessible stove

Timer

Directions on how to prepare this dish

Step 1: Heat oil in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add ham to pan; cook until brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in peppers and onions; cook, stirring occasionally, scraping up brown bits from bottom, until vegetables are soft and translucent, 10 minutes. Add sazón, garlic, cilantro and oregano. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Step 2: Add rice to pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until coated in oil and toasted, about

1 minute. Stir in pigeon peas, tomato sauce, olives and 1½ cups water; using a wooden spoon, stir once and bring rice mixture to a boil. Cook, uncovered, until water is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Gently stir rice from bottom up.

Step 3: Lower heat to medium low and cook, covered, until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Gently fluff rice with a fork. Cover the pan and let stand for 5 minutes.

Source: https://www.goya.com/en/recipes/arroz-con-gandules

One of the group members is the most familiar with this dish, therefore she was able to tell which ingredients were most authentic for the arroz con gandules.

Adaptations based on personal preferences

More than one tablespoon of olive oil is used, depending the amount made. Traditionally based on our group members experiences cooking with her mother and grandmother, Puerto Ricans don’t measure ingredients so strictly. Instead bigger cooking spoons as used to measure the oil. Approximately one spoon full of olive oil is enough.

This recipe doesn’t include sofrito, it will have to be added. Sofrito is one of the main components of many Puerto Rican dishes. Sofrito as known to the majority of Puerto Ricans is a mixture of sweet peppers, garlic, onion, and cilantro. These ingredients are slightly mixed in a food processor, as its texture has to be chunky. What is interesting is the name sofrito as our group member identifies sofrito with the term sofreír which means to fry something while stirring it. Therefore in this recipe about one heaping cooking spoonful will be added to the olive oil and stir fried.

Bell peppers, onions, cilantro, and oregano will be nixed as these are the ingredients for a sofrito. Puerto Ricans always have this premade in order to be used with most dishes. However, if you do not have sofrito you can always follow the original recipe.

Tomato sauce will not be used as it will make the rice mushy and that is not the texture of a traditional arroz con gandules.

History of Ingredients

Sofrito: according to the Spruce Eats originated in Puerto Rico during the 1400’s as the Spanish Colonizers introduced this recipe (Rodriguez, 2019).

Rice: All forms of rice, domesticated around 8,200-13,500 years ago in the Pearl River valley region of China. It cultivated around south of Sri Lanka and west India to Greece and other neighboring Meditarrean areas. From there rice spread to southern Europe and northern Africa. The Portugese brought it to Brazil and the Spanish carried it to Central and South American locations.

Sandyliz O, Abigail W, Elizabeth V, and Paul L