Caribbean Recipes – Cook-Up Rice

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. April 20, 2018: One of the more popular one-pot dishes from the South American CARICOM nation of Guyana is cook-up or cook-up rice. The meats here can be substituted with chicken or just plain beef or simply cooked down with coconut milk, vegetables like callaloo and ochros and seasonings and served as a vegetarian option but at the end of the day, this is one delicious meal. Here’s the typical Guyanese recipe:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups parboiled rice or 2 cups long grain rice

½ lb salted beef (cut into bite sized pieces)

1/2 lb pig’s tail (cut into bite sized pieces)

1 lb fresh beef (cut into stew sized pieces

1onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 can coconut milk

1 tomato

1 sprig fresh thyme

2 cups water or as necessary

1 can gungo peas, black-eyed peas, red kidney peas

Salt, to taste

1 scotch bonnet pepper

6 small ochros (optional)

1 bunch spinach or half a pack of spinach or a bundle of callaloo leaves.

2 Tablespoons Guyana Casareep

2 Tablespoon oil

METHOD

Season fresh beef or other meat being used if any with all of your favorite dry and wet seasoning. Set aside.

Add oil and the pig tail and salt beef together into a pressure cooker and sauté until it runs off any liquids.

Add water and pressure for about 15 mins or until tender.

Drain the water, remove from pressure cooker, and set aside.

Add the seasoned fresh beef or other meat to the pot and sauté until it runs off any liquids.

Add oil and cassareep to meat and coconut milk and pressure until tender.

Add in can of peas – black eye, gungo etc.

Wash rice and add to pot.

Add back the salt beef and pig tail.

Add in all other seasoning and additional water to cover rice and bring to boil.

Then lower heat and cover pot to steam rice.

Half way through add ochros and callaloo.

Add a little bit more water if needed.

Steam rice until it is cooked though and loose, not pasted together. Season with salt to taste.

Serve with a cucumber salad and tomato ketchup and enjoy!

PS: When making the no meat version, simply add rice, peas, coconut milk, seasonings and veggies to one pot and cook until rice is tender and loose.