Arroz con Pollo
Arroz con Pollo Peruano
Almuerzo Turned Supper (The Heavy Hitters)
Sear the skin-on chicken thighs in a heavy Dutch oven. A lot of recipes tell you to use boneless breasts—ignore them—because you need the unmistakable aroma of cilantro, garlic, and ají amarillo sizzling in hot chicken fat, followed by the deep, malty hiss of dark beer hitting the pot. To get the right heat and color, you need real yellow chili paste and a whirring blender of cilantro, blending a little spinach with your cilantro to lock in that emerald green color without making the long-grain rice bitter. Here is the exact sequence, taking forty-five minutes and scaled for an American supermarket run.
Before you start
Make the green base ahead of time.
The cilantro and spinach puree can be blended up to 3 days in advance and kept in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge, saving you serious time on a weeknight.
Ingredients
- fresh cilantro1 large bunch
- fresh baby spinach1 cup
- chicken broth3 cup
- bone-in skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks4 large
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- black pepper1 tsp
- ground cumin1/2 tsp
- neutral cooking oil2 tbsp
- red onion1 large
- garlic4 med clove
- ají amarillo paste3 tbsp
- dark beer1/2 cup
- long-grain white rice2 cup
- frozen mixed vegetables1 cup
- red bell pepper1/2 med
Method
- 01
Blend the green base.
In a blender, combine the cilantro, spinach, and 1/2 cup of the chicken broth. Blend on high until completely smooth and brilliantly green, then set aside.
- 02
Sear the chicken to render the fat.
Season the chicken aggressively on all sides with the salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken skin-side down until golden brown and crispy, about 5 to 7 minutes per side. You aren't cooking them all the way through—just rendering out that delicious fat. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- 03
Build the aderezo.
Lower the heat to medium and add the diced red onion to the chicken fat. Sauté, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom, until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and ají amarillo paste. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, to fry the chili paste until it becomes deeply fragrant and the oil starts to separate slightly.
- 04
Simmer the green base and deglaze with beer.
Pour the blended green base into the pot. Let it cook with the onions and chili for 3 to 5 minutes until it darkens slightly, cooking out the raw flavor of the herbs. Pour in the dark beer to deglaze the pan, letting the alcohol cook off for about 2 minutes.
- 05
Braise the chicken.
Return the chicken pieces and any juices from the plate to the pot. Pour in the remaining 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and let the chicken simmer in the green broth for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the chicken to a plate once more.
- 06
Stir in the rice and vegetables.
Add the rinsed white rice and frozen mixed vegetables to the boiling green broth. Stir well to ensure the rice is completely submerged and evenly coated. Taste the liquid—it should taste slightly saltier than you think it needs to be. Lay the red bell pepper strips gently on top of the liquid.
- 07
Steam the rice.
Once the liquid returns to a bubbling simmer, lower the heat to the absolute lowest setting. Place the chicken pieces gently back on top of the rice to keep them warm. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and cook undisturbed for 20 to 25 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
- 08
Rest and serve.
Remove the pot from the heat and let it rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice gently with a fork. Serve immediately with a healthy mountain of green rice, a piece of chicken, and a side of pickled red onions if you know what's good for you.
Notes
Use authentic choclo if you can source it.
Standard frozen mixed vegetables work great, but if you have a local Latin market, grab a bag of frozen Peruvian choclo (large-kernel Andean corn) for an extra textural pop.
From Cook Peruvian in America.