Rice and Beans
This is the total Belizean staple side dish, like "Potatoes"
in Ireland, or "Fries" in the US. It varies a little, and some people
will call the rice "dirty rice", although it's not anything like Cajun
"Dirty Rice." Here's the way to make it.
1. When you cook your beans, put a lot of water in
them, so that you have lots of "pot liquor" on the top.
2. Take this pot liquor and use it to cook your rice
in. This will give the rice a nice brown look, particularly if you use
black beans, which is my favorite now-a-days.
3. Add some beans from the beans you cooked earlier.
I tend to want to put a lot of beans in. The Belizeans just put enuf in
that you can see the beans scattered throughout the rice. Remember
that this is a Side Dish, like potatoes. It's better with
"grubby" (creole for "gravy") or ketchup. Belizean restaurants cover
the plate with Rice and Beans, and then put
everything else on top!! (a big, filling meal, eh?)
The actual "official" ratio of rice to beans is 5 to
1. (5 pounds rice, 1 pound beans)
I think the right ratio is more like 3 to 1. That's what I use -- 3
cups
rice , one cup of beans. The Belizeans often cook their rice with
"coconut water" which they make by grating a coconut and putting the
resulting water and coconut oil in the pan with the rice. This gives
the
rice a wonderful texture and flavor that I can't get!!
This entry was posted on March 7th, 2010
| Posted in Recipes
