Island Living: Cooking

I love cooking, and one of my favorite things is to try new recipes. This week I decided that I wanted to start learning how to make a few Dominican dishes. I grew up in a family of incredibly adventurous cooks and bakers. My mom's kitchen was a mix of Italian cooking and Southern baked goods (so, yeah, I fear a gluten allergy more than death itself). My grandma would always find the most random and delicious recipes to try out (don't even ask me what happened after she got cable T.V.). After I moved out on my own, I discovered curries, and my life was changed forever. All that to say, my extent of Guatemalan cooking is limited to huevos revueltos scrambled eggs (this is an international staple, but I need items),  frijoles volteados - refried beans, and plátanos fritos - fried ripe plantains. Which means that I can't do anything if I don't have enough oil to deep fry a turkey. And don't ask me about tortillas - I love eating them, but I don't even like waiting in line to buy them.

After moving here, people who came over for dinner would ask me if they would be eating a traditional Guatemala dish. (Does Pad Thai chicken count?) Lucky for me, I'm married to a gringo, so I can always say "no, we'll be eating some traditional American food today." (or Pad Thai chicken). But I didn't want to be in this country and miss out on the opportunity of learning how to make at least one Dominican dish. So, after Roy came with a bunch of guandules that have grown along our fence, I asked our friend Yudi to teach me how to make Moro de Guandules - Rice and Pigeon Peas. I love me some moro. It's the perfect side dish to pork or chicken. I recommend rotisserie chicken, personally. Here's how you make it:

Make sure you have all the ingredients (See list below). It's important that you ask your friend who's teaching you what these are. If you don't have all of them, in great Dominican, or Latin American style for that matter, walk over to the closest tienda, colmado, pulpería (convenience store). We're lucky to live next door to one, so I was able to gather all my goodies in no time.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):
1 medium onion, cubed
3-4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 Tablespoon oil
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro (Although you can just add a whole bunch to remove later, if you prefer)
1 celery stalk, chopped (can also add whole if you wish to remove later)
1 cup of pigeon peas (can be fresh or canned)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 bullion cube
2 cups of white rice (uncooked)
5 cups of water

Directions:

First, make sure you start this when the infant is sound asleep and the toddler is within sight, otherwise, allow yourself a couple hours to make this - or be flexible in your expectations (i.e. can have it for lunch or dinner).


In a medium saucepan, heat oil and sauté onion and garlic until golden. Then add cilantro and celery, and cook for about 3 minutes. You may want to add the cilantro and celery whole if you would like to remove them later. I added them chopped, and it worked out great. While doing that, you may want to keep an eye on the toddler who is now standing on his stool right next to you (watch out for that knife... and the matches).

Onions, garlic, cilantro and celery. notice the guandules on the far right.

Next, add the guandules and cover up. Let them cook for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, you may rearrange your entire counter top and clean up any spices that may have been spilled by the self-appointed sous chef. Make sure the spicy spices are definitely out of reach, and for crying out loud, put the matches in another room! After you see that the guandules are softening, add the tomato paste until well-blended. Then add the soy sauce, and mix well. Now you have something that looks "neither too red nor too black" (in Yudi's words). That's what you're going for.

"Ni muy roja ni muy oscura"

Then, add the water. Now, add the sopita - bullion cube. I was about to protest at this point, because up until then, the sopita had never been mentioned. However, I was met with such a gaze from Yudi when I said I didn't have any, that it was very clear to me the fault was one. hundred. percent. mine - no decent Dominican cook is found without sopita. So, after you make sure the infant is still asleep and the toddler can't get to anything fatal, walk (again) over to the colmado and get some sopita.

Now, cover up, and bring to a boil. When it boils, taste and make sure you don't need to add any more salt (I know you're thinking that soy sauce and bullion cube should meet your daily requirement of sodium, but I'm just making sure it's flavorful). So, now that you're sure this is the flavor you want your moro to have, add the rice. Cover up, and let cook on high heat until all the water has evaporated. This should give you plenty of time to fit in a quick nursing session for the infant. Make sure doors are closed, though, because you already lost the toddler in the back yard this morning and you know how he likes to wander.

After all the water seems to have evaporated, uncover and stir, if it still has some liquid, leave uncovered until it's all gone. Cover up again, and bring heat to low. Let cook "until the rice is cooked." (again, Yudi looked at me like this was a no brainer, but this is exactly my weak point with rice... I never know when it is cooked. So, just make sure you cook it). I have no idea how much time that entails, but it was enough for me to cook some chicken thighs.

Almost ready.

Approved! He's Dominican after all...

Now, enjoy! I would've taken a picture of the finished product, but when I thought about it, it had already been passed around at the table.
It was very easy to make and the husband, the brother, and the toddler all seemed to like it (I liked it, too!). Who knows, maybe next time I bring lunch to my Bible study girls, they might actually eat it.