Arroz con guandú y coco

As tradition built it

Arroz con guandú y coco

Serves 4 to 6. About 45 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 1¾ cups coconut milk
• 1 cup guandú (pigeon pea), fresh where possible
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 whole ají chombo, for aroma only, not blended in
• to taste salt
• a little a little oil

Method

1. Bring the coconut milk to a boil with the guandú, salt, a little oil and the sugar, covered, for roughly 10 minutes until the guandú has softened.
2. Reduce the heat, add the rice, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Cover and cook on very low heat for roughly 30 minutes, the whole ají chombo resting on top for aroma throughout, removed before serving.

Notes

Fresh guandú is treated as a real quality distinction over canned by Panamanian cooks, since fresh loses none of its aroma in cooking.

What a modern chef changes

An emulsified base, and a guandú purée alongside the whole peas

Rung 03

Method

1. Build the coconut and guandú base exactly as Rung 3 describes, milk emulsified fresh and strained, brought to a boil with the legume before the rice ever enters the pot.
2. Reserve a portion of the cooked guandú and purée it separately in the blender, passed through the chinois, folding this smooth purée back through the finished rice at the end for a rounder, more integrated pea flavour than whole peas alone give, while keeping some whole peas back for texture.
3. Toast the whole ají chombo briefly on a hot grill before it goes into the pot, deepening its aroma beyond what simmering alone achieves.