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Arroz con Coco y Pasas (Rice Cooked in Coca-Cola)
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Cuisine: Side dish South American
There's a new World of Coca-Cola in downtown Atlanta and an old world of Coca-Cola in recipe boxes and cookbooks around the globe. Sweet, sour and inimitable -- Coke beckons creative cooks as a secret ingredient.
I've long heard about a Colombian dish of rice cooked in Coca-Cola, and I was finally able to track it down in the scholarly food journal "Gastronomica." The recipe is fascinating: You cook coconut milk until it reduces -- first to a thick paste, and then until it breaks into oils and curdled solids, which brown and crisp. Then you add rice, cola and raisins, The result? Moist, Coke-brown rice with a sweet, subtle caramel essence. Believe it or not, the coconut flavor trumps the Coke. It took some tinkering to get the desired effect. (See note below.)
-- John Kessler
Hands on time: 10 minutes Total time: 1 hour Serves: 8
Ingredients:
-
3 (14-ounce) cans coconut milk
1 tablespoon oil, as needed
2 cups rice
1/4 cup raisins
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups Coca-Cola
Instructions:
Place the coconut milk in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to an active boil and continue cooking about 15 minutes over medium-high heat. Run a wooden spoon periodically around the bottom to make sure it isn't sticking. If so, turn down the heat a bit and keep checking. When the coconut milk is as thick as frosting and the bubbles burst like moon craters, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking. The mixture will turn glassy and the bubbles will look like pinpricks. Stir in a teaspoon of oil, and then another if needed, to encourage the mixture to break. Stirring constantly, let the mixture break into oil and solids. Once the solid bits start to brown, take the pot off the heat and carefully transfer the contents to a heatproof container. If using the heavy-bottomed pot to cook the rice, wash and dry it. Add the remaining teaspoon oil to the pot along with the coconut mixture, rice and raisins and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes until rice glistens and is fragrant. Add the salt and Coca-Cola. Bring to a boil; cover pot with a heavy, tight lid. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook another 10 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before uncovering.
-- Adapted from a recipe in "Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture" (Winter 2005)
-- Adapted from a recipe in "Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture" (Winter 2005)
Notes:
Get the kind of coconut milk that separates into solids and water in the can rather than the smoothly emulsified coconut milk. (A Taste of Thai brand, sold in mainstream supermarkets, and Chaokoh brand, sold in Asian markets, both work.) You'll also need a heavy-bottomed enamel or cast-iron pot so you can reduce the coconut without burning it.
Nutrition:
Per serving: 591 calories (percent of calories from fat, 55), 7 grams protein, 62 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 38 grams fat (32 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 563 milligrams sodium.
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