Puerto Rican · side

Arroz con Gandules

Arroz con Gandules reads umami 7.9, salinity 7.6 and richness 6.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Puerto Rican side, about 54 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 8.9 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 3.4 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 3.6 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.1 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.7 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 2.7 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.9 · Salinity 7.6 · Richness 6.6 · Sourness 3.2 · Funk & Ferment 3.1 · Fruity 2.7 · Herbaceous 2.5 · Sweetness 2.3 · Smoke 1.9 · Warm Spice 1.3 · Citrus 1.1 · Earthy 1.0 · Bitterness 0.8 · Heat 0.7 · Allium 0.5

What's in it (14)

• white rice — 400 g
• country ham — 100 g
• salt pork — 60 g
• achiote oil — 41 g
• sofrito — 120 g
• sazón con culantro y achiote — 7 g
• tomato sauce — 120 g
• alcaparrado — 60 g
• green pigeon peas — 400 g
• chicken stock — 600 g
• bay leaf — 1 g
• fresh culantro — 3 g
• salt — 5 g
• freshly ground black pepper — 3 g

Time & effort: about 54 min (44 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 126.4 kcal, 4.2 g protein, 3.8 g fat, 18.7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. Use a caldero if you have one — a heavy aluminium Puerto Rican pot with sloping sides. The pegao, the toasted crust on the bottom, is the best part of the dish and a thin pan will not give it to you without burning.
2. Put the salt pork and diced ham into the cold caldero with the achiote oil and set it over medium heat. Cook about 8 minutes, until the fat has run out and the edges of the ham have browned.
3. Add the sofrito and fry it 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until it stops smelling raw and green and the pot smells sweet.
4. Stir in the sazón, tomato sauce and alcaparrado and cook 3 minutes more. The mixture should look glossy and deep orange.
5. Tip in the rice and the drained gandules and turn everything over for 2 minutes so every grain is coated and faintly orange. Do not rinse the rice for this dish — the surface starch helps the pegao form.
6. Pour in the hot stock and add the bay leaves, whole recao leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a hard boil, stir once, and when the liquid has dropped to the level of the rice, cover tightly, drop the heat to its lowest setting and cook 25 minutes without lifting the lid.
7. Take the pot off the heat and let it stand covered 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and fold the browned bottom layer up through the rice rather than leaving it behind.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Saltimbocca alla Romana — Italian
• Oeufs en Meurette — French · Burgundy
• Pasta all'Amatriciana — Italian
• Vegetable Lasagna — Italian
• Classic Spaghetti Carbonara — Italian

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.