Feb 28 2008
How to cook rice Ecuadorian style
Published by Laylita at 12:18 am under All, Basics, Rice and pastas, Sides, South America
Most people know how to cook rice and different countries or regions have slightly different ways of preparing it, I cook it Ecuadorian style because that is how I learned to do it and I think it tastes great this way. Nicolas sometimes cooks rice the way he learned in Japan: boil the rice in a lot of water (very similar to how pastas are cooked) until it is done, drain it and that’s it. The Ecuadorian way of cooking rice is a little bit different and more precise; the rice should be perfectly cooked, not too hard, not too soft, firm and grainy. Depending on where you live and the rice you buy you might need to sort through the rice to remove any bad ones or small rocks, and in that case you probably also want to wash and rinse it well, also if you live in altitude you’ll probably need to add more water and let it cook for a little bit longer, I currently live almost at sea level so I use the minimum amount of water, but when I lived in Loja (2100 m or almost 6900 ft) I would use about double the amount of water to rice.
A lot of Ecuadorian main dishes use arroz amarillo or yellow rice as a side dish, this is cooked the same way as below, just add ground achiote or annatto seed when cooking the onions. You can add paprika or saffron if you don’t have achiote available.
Ingredients:
2 cups of uncooked white rice, I like to use long grain rice (sorted and rinsed if needed)
2 tbs oil (olive oil, sunflower, canola) or butter
2 tbs minced or finely chopped white onions
2 ¼ cups water
Salt to taste (add the salt when you add the water and the water should taste like a lightly salted broth, for a lightly salted rice I add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt)
Optional - 1 garlic clove, minced
For arroz amarillo: ½ teaspoon of ground achiote or annatto
Preparation:
- Heat the oil or butter on medium temperature in medium sized saucepan.
- Add the minced onions and garlic (and achiote if making arroz amarillo or yellow rice), cook until the onions are translucent or soft, about 2 minutes.
- Add the rice and stir it in so that it is well coated by the oil, add the water and bring it to a boil.
- Let the water reduce until it barely covers the rice, cover with a lid, reduce the temperature to low, and cook for about 20-25 min.
Laylita, thank you for your reply to my rice question; I see you also posted the recipe. I am trying the white rice tonight to be served on a bed of your lentil stew accompanied by butterflied grilled chicken breast. Hope it will be a winner. Thanks!
What a fabulous surprise to come across this blog! I am delighted and overjoyed. I was born in Colombia and grew up in Ecuador… I now live in the USA and I miss the Andes and its glorious food traditions (I would include the coast here too) so much. Thank you, this brought me joy.
Blair, Thank you for the kind words, I’m so happy that you like the site, I think there are so many great dishes in Ecuador (and South America) that aren’t that well known to the rest of world. What part of Ecuador did you grow up in?
I grew up in Quito and Pasochoa.
I found this blog looking for “empanadas argentinas” and in my search it promt me to your Blog, LOVE IT!!, and got stuck looking at all your recipes. I’m from Venezuela and I have a passion for food, especially the ones that can take me back to my lovely country….and childhood.
Love that you include the pictures (I like to see how a recipe would look like and the process of it).
Fortunately for me I’m able to find a lot of “our” stuff from South America here in Kansas, so I plan to make some (if not All) of your recipes.
I’m glad I found this blog!
I just got back to the US from two weeks in Ecuador with my son. While in Loja, we were treated to the arroz amarillo with shrimp, and it was delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipes.