Arroz a la Mexicana (Mexican Rice)

Rice is a staple ingredient of Mexican cuisine, often served as a side to the main course. We make our Mexican rice with a zesty roasted tomato salsa to give it that classic Mexican rice flavour.

If you're looking for inspiration for the rest of your Mexican meal, check out our other Mexican recipes, especially

• Frijoles negros refritos (Refried black beans)
• Sopa de Maize (Sweetcorn soup)
• Sweet Potato Tamales

We also offer Mexican cooking courses, which are a really fun way to learn more about this cuisine.

Arroz a la Mexicana - Mexican Rice

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

• 450g rice - medium or long grain
• 2 tbsps sunflower oil
• 350ml vegetable stock
• 1 batch of Salsa Asada (see below)
• Grated cheese (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a large saucepan with a lid heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the rice and stir for about 5 minutes until it starts to look chalky.
3. Add the Salsa Asada (recipe below) and stir until the salsa stops sizzling. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Stir once, making sure there is no rice stuck to the pan and put on the lid (it must be tight fitting, if not put a layer of foil on first).
4. In Mexico, this is then transferred to the oven for 25 minutes until the rice is cooked, but if you don’t have an oven-proof saucepan you can continue cooking on a low heat on the hob for about 20 minutes.
5. Test whether the rice is cooked and either leave to stand with the lid on if it is not quite cooked, with the lid off if it is ready, or continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes if still crunchy. Season to taste and stir in the remaining coriander.

Salsa Asada - Roasted tomato and chilli salsa

• 450g ripe tomatoes, halved
• 2-3 red chillis (to taste)
• 3 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
• ½ small white onion, chopped
• Juice of half a lime
• Brown sugar to taste
• A handful chopped coriander

Method:

1. On separate trays roast the tomatoes, chillis and whole garlic until they are starting to blacken. You could do this under the grill but need to watch they don’t burn. In Mexico they roast chillis and tomatoes on a flat metal griddle over hot coals. You can replicate this by cooking them on a barbecue or using a heavy based frying pan and cooking them until blackened. This can make your kitchen very smoky though.
2. When cooled roughly chop the tomatoes, removing the core if you can. (You can also remove the skin if you like but it does taste good!)
3. Remove the peel from the garlic and the stalks from the chilli. Put the garlic, chilli and ½ tsp salt into a pestle and mortar or food processor and bash or whiz into a paste.
4. Add the tomatoes a little at a time until you have a thick salsa.
5. Rinse the chopped onion and add to the salsa along with half of the chopped coriander and lime and sugar, salt and pepper to taste.