Comfort Food Classics: Sopa de Arroz (Mexican Rice)

Sopa de Arroz (Mexican rice) is a traditional Mexican dish. Recipes for sopa de arroz vary from state to state, and even from family to family. Today I'm sharing my recipe for Mexican Rice, which I make at least once a week for my family.

The very first recipe I learned to prepare was my grandmother's. She always used finely chopped onion, tomato and garlic and a can of tomato sauce. In my book, I always considered Gramm's recipe to be the best and thought it to be quite authentic, being that my grandmother had been raised in San Luis, Sonora, Mexico.

When I got married one of the first recipes that I wanted to wow my new hubby with was with Gramm's sopa de arroz. My hubby liked it, but I could tell that there was something he wasn't telling me. My hubby kindly explained that my rice was nothing like the rice his mom prepared during his childhood in Mexico.  His mother's rice didn't include chopped onion or tomato. So, the next time I made Mexican rice, I made it without any of the vegetables and only added a can of tomato sauce. Well, that was probably the worst rice we had ever tasted. Even hubby agreed that that could not be how his mom prepared her sopa de arroz.

Luckily, after we had been married for 6 months, my suegra (mother-in-law) went to visit us in the States. During her stay with us my mother-in-law shared each and every one of her authentic Mexican recipes, including her recipe for sopa de arroz. After hearing her recipe, all I could do was laugh out loud. My hubby had gotten it SO wrong!

My suegra explained to me that some of her 6 children were picky eaters when they were younger. One child didn't care for tomato, another didn't care for onion, and none of the children liked garlic. So, in order to maintain the taste of her sopa de arroz and keep her children happy, she'd puree the vegetables before adding them to the rice. Hence, the reason my hubby didn't recall chopped veggies in his mom's rice. This is my mother-in-law's recipe for Mexican Rice. It's very similar to my grandmother's recipe except with pureed veggies and no tomato sauce.

Mexican Rice


Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 3 roma tomatoes, cut in quarters
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Salt

Directions:
Puree the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and water in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute; set aside. Heat vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; add rice and saute until rice turns a light golden brown.

Carefully and gradually, pour the puree mixture over the browned rice. Add the chicken broth and chicken bouillon cube; season with salt. Bring rice to a boil. Taste broth and season with additional salt, if necessary. Cover saucepan and reduce heat to low. RESIST THE URGE TO STIR! Let rice simmer until all liquid has absorbed. Remove from heat and let set for at least 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Receta en español