Traditional Mexican Rice

This is also known as Spanish Rice to a lot of people. I'm not sure about the origins of it, but I know I'm Mexican and this is my rice. No matter what, you're going to die over how flavorful this rice is. I'm not a huge fan of white rice (I know some people swear by it) so I end up making this kind of rice the most. It's perfect for enchiladas, taquitos, or in this case, my grandma's tamales! Speaking of, my grandma and mom would be so proud! I was taught by the best and now I make it for Mike whenever I can. When I was growing up my grandma would make this rice for all of our family parties and holidays. Now, I pass my traditions onto you.

As a side note, this recipe is near and dear to me, not only because it's been passed on, but because this is one of the first things I learned how to make on my own. I loved how things weren't really measured to make it taste good (unlike baking where you measure everything). I could add a couple dashes of this and that and things would turn out, not only un-ruined, but extremely delicious. I hope you enjoy it too!

What You'll Need:

1/2 of an onion

1 tomato

1 cup of white rice

2 cups of water

Tomato Bouillon (Caldo de Tomate)

Garlic powder

Black pepper

Vegetable oil

This whole process is really easy and feeds 3 people (or 2 if you want more to yourself). Start by browning your rice in a large saucepan over medium heat. Just drizzle your pan with vegetable oil and add your cup of rice.

While the rice is browning, dice your onion and tomato and set aside.

This is going to be soo good

Make sure you keep an eye on your rice because you don't want it to burn. Now, it's mandatory you take in the smell of your rice cooking - it smells so good right? (Focus Monica) Okay, your rice will be done when it's a nice golden color. When this happens, it's time to add the tomato and onion.

Let the onions and tomato get soft, it should take a few minutes. You'll notice that the rice will get a little orange tint from the tomato. When it's ready add your water. This part is really really important - this is where you add all the flavor.

These are all the ingredients you'll need to flavor the rice - three things. Can you believe it? You can't beat the simplicity.

 Add about a tablespoon of tomato bouillon. If you add too much you're rice will end up really salty. Mix it around and taste it. Make sure you add as much as you feel comfortable with (like I said, I usually one tablespoon - or a big spoonful). I go by the taste and color of the water to tell when it's done (just like grandma). Whatever your water tastes like, your rice will taste like when it's done.

Now add some pepper and garlic powder. I don't have measurements for this, so if I HAD to say how much I would say about 9 shakes of pepper and 3 of garlic powder. Now, stir and taste. See how you like it. I don't add a lot of salt to the things I cook but if you're like Michael and you can't get enough it, go ahead and add some.

When everything is mixed, cover your rice.

I also don't have a time for how long you should cook this. If your rice is on medium heat then it should take about 15 minutes. Keep your eye on it though. If the water looks like it's almost gone taste the rice and if it's still crunchy then add about a 3/4-1 cup more water. Depending on how much longer your rice needs to cook, put the lid back on.
As you can see below, when the water was almost gone for mine, the rice still wasn't as soft as I like it so I added about 1/2 a cup and put the lid  back on. About 7 minutes later (I know this is random time to get specific) I took the lid off and let the rice cook.

1 more cup of water added.

After about six more minutes with the lid on and then a few with it off, and stirring constantly, my rice was done. One thing about the stirring, make sure it's more of a folding because you don't want to mush up your rice by over-stirring. It'll still taste good, but it'll be mush and that's not good eats.

I also heated up some leftover tamales in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes flipping them every 8 minutes (hopefully I can get a post up when we make them over Christmas).

When everything was done we were able to eat. I think there were long moments of silence from us while we ate. It was so worth it!...