Covered rice: how to make it come out thick and juicy? Here the best recipe

Something I was able to take away from the pandemic is that I had more time to cook with friends. With friends? That’s how it is! Although from a distance, everyone being at home left us with a little more time to have fun and meet in those meetings that in the everyday life of the ”normal” that we knew, was complicated. One of my guests at #MastersDeCSM was Jose del Castillo from Isolina and with him I learned to prepare this delight: a closed rice with strong and juicy filling.

Here is the recipe, steps and ingredients for a 3-serving covered rice:

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 cups of rice (raw weight)

FOR FILLING

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 medium red onion
• 500 grams of meat (loin, huachalomo, ground beef)
• 2 tablespoons of non-spicy panca chili
• 2 tablespoons chopped raisins
• 2 green (or yellow) chili peppers, chopped
• ½ cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 handful of chopped parsley
• Optional to fill: whole pitted black olive

TO ACCOMPANY

• 3 fried eggs
• 3 fried plantains in half

PREPARATION

FOR THE RICE

In a small pot, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Once hot, add equal parts rice and water. Stir. Season with salt until the water is pleasant to taste. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to minimum and cover the pot. 15 minutes later, uncover, mash with a fork, turn off the heat, cover again and let it rest until ready to serve.

FOR THE FILLING

In a frying pan over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the diced onion along with the ground garlic and season until the onion is translucent. Once the color changes, add the meat and as soon as it is browned, season with salt, pepper, cumin and panca chili powder. Finally, add the cubed yellow chili pepper, the wine, the tablespoons of sugar and bring to a boil so that the alcohol evaporates. Add a tablespoon of flour to thicken, leave for a minute and then turn off the heat to add the raisins and chopped parsley.

FOR THE ASSEMBLY

Fill a cup or bowl 1/3 of its height with the grained white rice. Continue with a generous layer of the filling, leaving only 1/3 free to complete the mold with an additional layer of rice. Turn onto a plate and serve with fried plantain on the side and fried egg on top of the rice.