Arroz con Gandules

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp achiote oil (annatto seeds warmed in oil and strained)
• 150g slab bacon or salt pork, cut into small cubes
• 100g cured ham or salchichón, diced
• 120ml sofrito
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 bay leaves
• 60g alcaparrado (olives, capers and pimientos), roughly chopped
• 1 x 400g tin pigeon peas, drained
• 600g medium-grain rice, rinsed and drained
• 1.1 litres chicken stock
• 1.5 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 banana leaf, optional, for covering the rice

Before you cook

• Cube the bacon and dice the ham.
• Rinse the rice until the water runs clear and drain it thoroughly.
• Roughly chop the alcaparrado.
• Drain the pigeon peas.

Steps

1. Set a heavy caldero or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the achiote oil.
2. Add the cubed bacon and cook for six minutes, until the fat has rendered out and the edges are crisp.
3. Stir in the diced ham and cook for two minutes.
4. Add the sofrito and cook for four minutes, stirring, until the raw green smell gives way to something sweet.
5. Stir in the tomato paste, oregano, cumin and bay leaves, and fry for two minutes.
6. Add the chopped alcaparrado and the drained pigeon peas and turn them through the sofrito.
7. Tip in the rinsed rice and stir for three minutes, coating every grain in the orange fat.
8. Pour in the chicken stock and add one and a half teaspoons of salt and the black pepper.
9. Stir once, then taste the liquid, which should be a shade saltier than you want the finished rice.
10. Bring the pot to a rolling boil over high heat.
11. Boil uncovered for about ten minutes, until the liquid has dropped to the level of the rice and craters appear across the surface.
12. Stir the rice once from the bottom, then flatten the surface and stop stirring for good.
13. Lay the banana leaf over the rice if you have one, and clamp on a tight lid.
14. Turn the heat to its lowest setting and cook for twenty-five minutes.
15. Resist lifting the lid, because the trapped steam is what cooks the top layer.
16. Uncover and check a grain from the top, which should be tender with no chalky centre.
17. Fluff the rice with a fork, then rest it uncovered for five minutes.
18. Scrape the toasted pegao off the bottom of the pot and serve it on top, since it is the piece everyone fights over.