Michelle’s Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo: Battle of Arroz con Pollos!

Arroz con pollo is one of THE defining dishes of Latino cuisine. While they have a lot in common, the recipes for this staple dish can vary a lot. (For example, typically Cubans add beer, Puerto Ricans use achiote oil, Dominicans add soy sauce to their versions). That got us wondering. Which Latino locale do YOU think makes the best arroz con pollo?

So, we asked 3 of our favorite Latina cooks: Patty Morrell-Ruiz of The Mad Table (Cuban), Belqui Ortiz-Millili of Belqui’s Twist (Dominican), and Michelle Ezratty Murphy of Bowl & Apron (Puerto Rican family heritage) to have a chicken-and-rice food fight. Here’s how it works: Each cook is making her famous arroz con pollo and show us how it’s done, step by step, on video. Check out all three and then vote here for your favorite! The winner will be the newly crowned champion of our first-ever Familia Kitchen Battle of the Arroz con Pollos.

Competing for Puerto Rico: Michelle’s Family Arroz con Pollo

Defending the honor of Puerto Rico’s rice and chicken is Michelle Ezratty Murphy, who grew up in San Juan Puerto Rico and married a Puerto Rican, Pat. Michelle, who runs her Bowl & Apron cooking Instagram channel, loves to cook her husband’s family Boricua recipes, including this one which she learned form Pat’s Titi Rosa. Check out her recipe and her step-by-step video and you will see why this is one of her family’s all-time favorite meals ever, Michelle tells Familia Kitchen.

Q: What makes Puerto Rican arroz con pollo different from other Latino versions?
Michelle: Puerto Rican arroz con pollo is distinctively different from the Cuban and Dominican dishes because we use achiote oil for a beautiful deep amber-colored rice and of course sofrito for that taste that leaves you saying “I need to know what the secret ingredient is.”

Q: Who taught you to make this traditional Puerto Rican dish?
Michelle: The first time that I had my hands on making arroz con pollo, was at my husband’s Titi Rosa’s house. Before we were married, we would pop in to her house almost daily to say hello to the family, and if we were lucky, she had arroz con pollo in a huge pot ready to serve all the family who came to gather all times of the day. While I never cooked with her in this early years, I always watched Titi…and after we were married and I began to cook at home, I started to ask questions and write down the process. There was never a recipe, more a pinch of this and a cup of that. Later, I finally wrote the recipe down, incorporated a few of my own twists, and that is how I came up with Titi’s award-winning arroz con pollo recipe!

Q: Why do you think your version is the best and should win Familia Kitchen’s Battle of the Arroz con Pollos?
Michelle: People should vote for my Puerto Rican recipe because it’s simple, delicious, layered with real Puerto Rican kitchen flavors and honestly, my dish is made with more love than arroz con pollo can handle! From the crispy salted pork, to the freshly made sofrito and everything in between, but most of all it’s Titi’s legacy and love made in every batch. It brings the memories of the kitchen, the family and the beautiful times we all had together…so every dish that I serve, has that essence stirred right in.

Check out Michelle’s recipe below and watch her make her arroz con pollo step by step! Compare it to Belqui’s Dominican arroz con pollo (called locrio) here and Patty’s Cuban arroz con pollo recipe here. Then click here to VOTE for the No. 1 winner in our Battle of the Arroz con Pollos!

Will You Vote for Michelle’s Boricua Arroz con Pollo as the Winner?

Michelle’s Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo: Battle of Arroz con Pollos!

Recipe by Michelle Ezratty Murphy

5.0 from 1 vote

Cuisine: Puerto Rican

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• For the Chicken Marinade

• 8 chicken thighs, skin on

• 2 tsp. oregano

• 6 tsp. kosher salt

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

• 1 lime, juice of

• For Cooking the Arroz con Pollo

• 12 oz. salt pork, chopped into ½-inch squares

• 1 large white onion, diced

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, diced

• 1 tomato, diced

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

• 1 roasted red pepper

• 1 bunch cilantro, whole leaves picked from stems

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 3 tsp olive oil

• 15 Spanish olives, stuffed with pimento

• 1 Tbsp small capers

• 3/4 cup tomato sauce

• 3 Tbsp achiote oil

• 2 tsp cumin, powdered

• 3 cups rice, medium grain

• 3 cups water

Directions

• Wash and dry chicken thighs, set aside. Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. In a large glass dish, coat and massage the chicken well with the marinade ingredients, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
• In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, that has a tight fitting lid, on medium high heat, add olive oil. Once oil is hot, add salt pork to the pot and stir often, until the pork is crispy and the fat has rendered off. Lower heat if you find that the pork is starting to burn.
• Into the cooked pork, lay in the chicken in and all the marinade from the dish, skin-side down. Sear for 8 minutes or until skin is crispy and browned. Turn chicken over for another 8 minutes.
• Into the same pot, add the diced onions, tomatoes, red and green peppers, and garlic. Sauté.
• Once the onions are translucent, add the rice and stir to coat. Then pour in the water. Make sure that the liquid covers the chicken, plus 1 extra inch.
• Add the cilantro leaves, olives, capers, roasted red peppers, tomato sauce, achiote oil, ½ teaspoon salt and cumin. Stir well to combine.
• On medium high heat, bring the pot to a slow boil and allow some of the liquid to absorb into the rice (about 10 minutes) You are looking for there to still be liquid, but you will begin to see the rice expand. DO NOT STIR THE RICE.
• Cover the pot, and bring the heat down to low. Simmer for another 40 minutes. Rice should be cooked and all the liquid absorbed. Turn off the heat and allow the arroz con pollo to steam with the lid on for at least 15 minutes, or until you are ready to serve. No peeking! By not lifting the lid, you are helping the dish form its golden-brown layer of pegao at the bottom of la olla. When ready to serve, dig deep to give your family and friends a spoonful or two of this crackly, caramelized, delicioso rice. You’ll see: everyone loves pegao, says Michelle.

Notes

• If you don’t have achiote oil or feel like making it, substitute by mixing 3 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 packet of sazon with achiote.