Puerto Rican Rice {Pigeon Peas with Ham}
Servings Prep Time
6people 5minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
25minutes 20minutes
Servings Prep Time
6people 5minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
25minutes 20minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Wash the rice in a colander and set aside. (This removes all the extra starch from the rice, you don’t want to skip this step!)
  2. Place sofrito, oil, tomato sauce and salt in the pot. Let it sautee for a few minutes and then add the ham and pigeon peas (the whole can, adding the water as well as peas).
  3. Place the water in the pot and add the packet of Sazón (at this point you can also add the olives if you wish). Cover the pot and let the ingredients boil in the water.
  4. When the water boils, put in the rice and stir it all around so that it mixes. DO NOT COVER THE POT YET. I usually set my gas stove on high until the water boils and then when I put in the rice, I lower it to 5 until the water dries, meaning that you won’t see it covering the rice but right at the same level. This doesn’t take very long (maybe 5 minutes but keep an eye on it)…
  5. At that point stir the rice again, LOWER the heat to 3 and cover the pot. Let the rice cook for about 15 minutes and then uncover (let the steamy water from the cover fall over the rice), stir and cover again and let it cook for an additional 5 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat. The rice should be fully cooked, soft but not overdone but NEVER al-dente. Remember, the secret to the perfect rice (in my eyes) is NOT stirring it too many times. A total of 3 times is plenty. Also uncovering and covering it too much also affects the cooking. Enjoy!