Arroz Poblano

The poblano blended into the cooking liquid, so the rice is green before it is cooked rather than stirred green afterwards.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains cheese whose rennet the source does not name, chicken.

Ingredients

• 350 g long-grain rice
• 3 poblano chillies
• a large bunch of coriander, stalks and all
• ½ onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 700 ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 150 g sweetcorn kernels
• 150 g crumbly white cheese, to serve

Method

1. THE POBLANO IS BLENDED INTO THE COOKING LIQUID, so the rice is green before it is cooked rather than stirred green afterwards. That is the whole construction. The charred, skinned poblanos and the coriander are blended with the stock, and the rice then absorbs that green liquid completely over eighteen minutes -- so each grain is coloured and flavoured through rather than coated. Chilli and herb stirred into cooked white rice gives a bowl of white rice with green bits in it, which looks and tastes quite different, and the flavour sits on the outside of the grains instead of inside them.
2. THE POBLANOS ARE CHARRED AND SKINNED, NOT USED RAW. Blackened on a dry pan, fifteen minutes under a cloth, skins rubbed off dry. Raw poblano blended into stock gives a grassy, slightly bitter liquid; charred it is smoky and sweet, and in a dish this plain that is most of the flavour.
3. THE CORIANDER IS BLENDED RAW INTO THE COLD STOCK AND NOT COOKED SEPARATELY. It goes into the blender with the poblanos and the stock and then straight into the pan. Eighteen minutes under a lid with the rice does dull the green a little, which is unavoidable -- the alternative is the stirred-in version, which keeps a brighter colour and loses the point of the dish.
4. THE LIQUID IS STRAINED BEFORE IT GOES IN. Blended coriander leaves fibres and poblano leaves flecks of skin, and both show as dark specks in a pale green rice. Through a sieve, pressed with a ladle, and the measured volume checked afterwards -- it must still be 700 ml, so a little stock is added back if the sieve has held some.
5. IT IS RINSED, FRIED AND THEN NOT STIRRED, like every other rice here. Rinsed until clear, fried in oil until the grains go chalky, liquid in all at once, lid on, eighteen minutes, ten minutes resting off the heat. The sweetcorn goes on top at the end rather than in at the start, so it keeps its bite.
6. The poblanos charred black on a dry pan 10 minutes, left under a cloth 15 MINUTES, and the skins rubbed off DRY. Stalks and seeds removed.
7. Blended with the coriander, onion, garlic, salt and ALL the stock until smooth.
8. STRAINED through a sieve, pressed with a ladle, and the volume CHECKED -- topped back up to 700 ml with stock if the sieve held some.
9. The rice rinsed until the water runs CLEAR and drained thoroughly.
10. The oil heated in a wide pan and the rice fried 5 MINUTES, stirred, until the grains turn chalky.
11. The green liquid poured in ALL AT ONCE.
12. Brought to a simmer, covered, and cooked on the LOWEST heat 18 MINUTES. NOT STIRRED.
13. The sweetcorn scattered ON TOP and the lid replaced 2 MINUTES.
14. THE PAN TAKEN OFF THE HEAT and left COVERED 10 MINUTES.
15. Forked through once, lightly.
16. TESTED: the grains should be separate and coloured right through, not white with green on them.
17. Served with the cheese crumbled over.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes