Mekishikan raisu / arroz a la mexicana / Mexican rice (with medium-grain Asian rice)

A spice-free, mild version. I like to serve this when white rice is called for with Mexican food, or with rich, spicy dishes.

<Ingredients>

250 cc medium-grain Asian rice (Japanese, Korean)
250 cc vegetable stock (no or reduced sodium)
1 ripe roma tomato
1/4 onion
1 small clove or 2 tiny cloves garlic (1/2 for sauteing rice, 1/2 for pureeing)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil (for sauteing rice; not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Chop/dice tomato and onion.
Finely chop 1/2 garlic.

2.

Puree tomato, onion and 1/2 garlic (non-chopped half) with a small amount of vegetable stock.

Add the rest of vegetable stock, mix, and set aside.

3a. (If cooking rice in a pot)

Heat oil, add rice, and saute on medium low heat.

When outer surface of rice grains starts to become translucent, add finely chopped garlic.

Continue sauteing until garlic lightly colors.

Add tomato-onion broth and salt, mix well, bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for approximately 25 minutes.

(After 25 minutes)
Remove from heat, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Gently fluff.

3b. (If using a rice cooker)

After sauteing rice and garlic, put in rice cooker.
Add tomato-onion broth and salt, mix well, and cook.

(Sneak peek at left)
When done, wait 10 minutes.

Gently fluff.

<Notes>

• I prefer to cook this in a pot, as it is easier to adjust the moisture level and resulting texture.
• When using a pot, do not stir rice while it is cooking.
• If using a standard round salad tomato, discard at least half of its liquid or reduce the amount of vegetable stock in order to prevent rice from becoming soggy. Moisture content is quite high with Asian rice, and extra liquid from ingredients can make the final dish soggy.
• Optional ingredients include chopped carrot, green/red sweet/spicy peppers (bell, jalapeno, serrano, etc), celery and cumin.
• This is a great way to use up Asian rice that is past its prime. Flavors from other ingredients nicely mask the defects.