this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2024
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Nice first attempt.
Few tricks from a white guy who now has to cook for my Mexican in-laws.
Use cast-iron skillets for the meat and veggies. Get them hot on high heat and then toss your meat and veggies in. This will get a good sear going. Wait to blacken a few peices then stir and cover to cook.
Seasoning the meat- add in a bit of teriyaki sauce with the other spices. It blends really well. Don't tell mi suegra... Mix the seasonings together and marinated for 30 minutes in the fridge prior to cooking.
You really have to make some fried rice with that. It's really easy to do. Pour a little corn oil into a pan with dry rice. Stir until all the kernals are coated. Cook on high heat stirring constant until they turn white and start to brown. Pour in the water mixed with caldo de tomate (chicken bullion with ground dried tomatoes). Cook the rice covered as normal. Takes about 20 minutes.
Another good recipe for "fried rice" is to start with vermicelli, slightly brown in a good amount of oil on medium heat and add the rice when the vermicelli is light brown, coat well with oil and fry that mixture still on medium heat until the rice texture changes (seems brittle and turns brighter white just like you say) and the vermicelli is well browned. I use about 1/4 vermicelli and 3/4 rice.
Lower the heat and add onion, garlic and stir fry some more for a minute or 2. Then add vegetable stock so it covers the rice just slightly (certainly less stock/water than cooking traditional rice), fresh herbs optional and saffron. Stir.
Cover with a heavy lid and when the stock comes to a boil, immediately turn the heat to lowest, and leave it for 20ish minutes. If too dry after that just add a little more stock carefully. When done leave for another 15 minutes and fluff it with a fork.
I mostly make it with Jasmin or Basmati rice, my Egyptian brother in law's family uses Egyptian short grain rice, I learned the traditional roz bel shai'riya from them, which is a bit different than the recipe above.
If I have left over vermicelli rice I mix it with minced beef and some ras el hanout to make meat balls.
Thanks for the tips! I'm staying at my dad's place so I'm somewhat limited with equipment, but I'll try making some rice per your directions for the next round