Arroz tico

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A rice dish from Costa Rica.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• Garlic, to taste, finely sliced or diced
• 225 g long grain rice
• 450 ml hot water or ham stock
• 225 g cooking chorizo
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 red peppers, cut into strips
• 2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 450 g cabbage
• 60 g 'encurtido en mostaza'. See Chef's Notes below
• Salt, to taste

Mise en place

• Wash and drain the rice.

Method

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a pan over a medium heat until it starts to brown.
2. Add half of the onion, garlic, and then the rice.
3. Stir until the grains of rice are coated with the butter and add the water.
4. Reduce the heat to low, cover and allow to cook until the rice has absorbed the water - about 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a separate pan and add the remaining half of the onion and the chorizo.
6. Allow to cook briefly and add the remaining ingredients.
7. When the ingredients in both pans are cooked, mix together and serve.
8. Alternatively, you can layer them in a serving dish or mould and turn out onto a large platter.

Serving suggestions

A complete meal in itself, arroz rico can also be served as an accompaniment to other dishes.

Chef's notes

'Encurtido en mostaza' literally means 'pickled in mustard'. It is similar to the British piccalilli, but the vegetables are chopped much smaller. I have not found anywhere in the UK that sells it, so would suggest that you use piccalilli and chop the vegetables very finely. Try to avoid certain well known brands of Mustard pickle as they won't be gutsy enough.