Arroz con pollo

Ingredients

• Chicken — in pieces1.5 kg
• Medium-grain rice500 g
• Pale beer350 ml
• Chicken stock700 ml
• Onions2
• Bell peppers2
• Garlic6 clove
• Tomato sauce200 ml
• Saffron1 pinch
• Ground cumin1 tsp
• Oregano1 tsp
• Peas200 g
• Olives80 g
• Limes2
• Olive oil80 ml
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Rub the chicken with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, garlic and lime juice and leave it half an hour.

   35 min

2. 2

   Brown the chicken in olive oil on all sides and lift it out.

   15 min

3. 3

   Sweat the onion, pepper and garlic in the same oil for twenty minutes, until completely soft; that is the sofrito.

   22 min

4. 4

   Add the tomato sauce and the saffron steeped in a spoon of warm water and cook five minutes.

   7 min

5. 5

   Return the chicken, add the beer and stock, bring it up and season.

   8 min

6. 6

   Add the rice in an even layer, cover and cook twenty minutes on a low heat without stirring.

   22 min

7. 7

   Scatter the peas and olives over the top, cover and let it stand ten minutes before serving.

   12 min

About the dish

The base is sofrito: onion, garlic and pepper sweated in olive oil until completely soft. That is not a hurried first step but twenty minutes of work the whole flavour rests on.

Beer goes in in place of some of the stock. It gives a faint bitterness and a particular aroma, and in Cuba pale beer in arroz con pollo is the norm rather than a liberty.

The rice is not stirred once it is in. As in pilaf, every move of the spoon releases starch and the rice turns sticky rather than separate.

Worth knowing

• — The sofrito cannot be rushed. Twenty minutes on a low flame gives sweetness; a quick fry gives only fried onion.
• — Use liquid at one and a half times the volume of rice. Less and the rice stays raw; more and it turns to porridge.
• — The ten minutes' rest under the lid is not optional. In that time the rice finishes in steam and stops sticking to the base.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

720 kcal

Protein

44 g

Fat

26 g

Carbs

78 g

More from Cuba

• Ropa vieja — Beef pulled into strands and stewed in sofrito with peppers and olives. The meat is boiled whole in advance.
• Moros y cristianos — Rice cooked in the liquid from black beans, which darkens it and gives it all their flavour.
• Tostones — Green plantain fried twice, flattened between the fryings, with a garlic dip.