pigeon peas

It is made using white rice made yellow with annatto, saffron or turmeric, ingredients used to give the rice its yellow color.

Pernil is traditionally served with rice and beans. And while that makes a tasty meal, we loved serving it taco-style with sweet corn and creamy avocado.

Here are the Puerto Rican foods you won’t want to miss:

• Tostones. PIN IT.
• Arroz Con Gandules. Arroz con gandules is actually considered the island’s national dish.
• Alcapurrias. Made with yucca and plantains, alcapurrias are fritters filled with ground beef.
• Empanadillas. PIN IT.
• Mofongo.
• Pernil.
• Rellenos de Papa.
• Pasteles.

Arroz con Gandules is a combination of rice, pigeon peas and pork, cooked in the same pot with Puerto Rican-style sofrito. This is one of the signature rice dishes of Puerto Rican cuisine. The sofrito is the most important part of seasoning the rice. Me and family eat this dish often, for it is very enjoyable.

Spain

Arroz con gandules is a one-pot national dish of Puerto Rico consisting of rice, pigeon peas, and sofrito, and every family in the country has their own version of the recipe. Sofrito is the aromatic flavoring base for a variety of Puerto Rican dishes, made with green peppers, onions, garlic, and coriander.

Mofongo is one of many dishes popular in Puerto Rico that people can enjoy from restaurants and food trucks. Read below for more about mofongo’s history and how the dish is prepared. A predecessor of mofongo came from West and Central Africa, and was brought to Puerto Rico with the slave trade, according to Gozamos.

San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Best Mofongo Restaurants

• 02 of 09. Punto de Vista, Old San Juan.
• 03 of 09. Santaella.
• 04 of 09. Mi Casita, Isla Verde.
• 05 of 09. Oceano, Condado.
• 06 of 09. Molini’s Cafe.
• 07 of 09. Orozco’s, Condado.
• 08 of 09. Cafe Manolin, Old San Juan.
• 09 of 09. Patio del Nispero, Hotel El Convento, Old San Juan.

Today you’ll find many iterations of the iconic mofongo in Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban restaurants.

• Garlic. Garlic, a culinary influence from Spain, is key.
• Plantains. Plantains, originating from South Asia, arrived in the northwest Caribbean islands in the early 1500s.
• Filling.
• Garnishes.

If you’ve never tasted mofongo for yourself, it can be a little tough to describe. Think of it as Puerto Rico’s answer to mashed potatoes. It tends to be just as hearty and filling as mashed potatoes but with a nice subtle sweet flavor thanks to the ripe plantains.

They won’t spike your blood sugar like a potato or grain flour. They are a source of resistant starch which bypasses digestion, helps you detoxify, and becomes food that feeds the good bacteria in your colon.

Mofongo can be serve as a side dish or as a main course. But often times, they are served with roasted pork or fried meat. Others would accompany it with beans and/or rice, chicken soups or served into small balls and drop them on soups or stews.

Although those numbers are very close, plantains have a few advantages over white rice. “They have more vitamins and minerals, and more fiber as well,” says Isabella Ferrari, MCN, R.D., L.D., clinical dietitian at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Puerto Rico

1500s