A Breakdown of Puerto Rican Cuisine

is [Music] the u.s has a lot of amazing regional cuisine from soul food to tex-mex to the many many variations on pizza but there's one cuisine that we've been sleeping on puerto rican food it's the ultimate comfort food with complex spice blends and deep flavors i want to give you a basic overview of the ingredients and dishes that make puerto rican food special i went to the island to enlist the help of my partner's grandmother carmen durant who's been living and cooking on the island her entire life we're also going to get some help from the bible of puerto rican food puerto rico true flavors by weevil bennett we're going to start by breaking down a classic puerto rican meal these are the absolute essentials of the cuisine if you're lucky enough to have a puerto rican grandma make you lunch you'll most likely be served some variation of this meal the basic formula for the meal is double starch and a protein first we have rice rice is such a staple in puerto rican food that a meal isn't considered complete without it short grain white rice is favorite above all others when cooked properly it should have a loose grain beans are called abituelas in puerto rico as the pinto bean is to mexico and the black bean is to cuba the pink bean is puerto rico although white beans are also eaten peppers you don't drain these beans you serve them stewed with the liquid sofrito is the most basic and widely used puerto rican flavor elements you'll find a tupperware of homemade sofrito in the freezer of most puerto rican households sofrito is made of olive oil vegetable oil lots of garlic two different types of peppers both not spicy cilantro culantro and fresh oregano yes you heard that right cilantro and culantro culantro is similar to cilantro and flavor but it's much stronger and has long straight leaves it's also a puerto rican essential if you're not having rice with beans you'll be served rice with pigeon peas or arroz con candules it's eaten throughout the year but especially at christmas time pigeon peas taste earthy and are sort of similar to lentils arroz con gandules is cooked in a caldero or a heavy bottom pan with cubanella peppers tomato sauce garlic green olives capers onion achiote oil which is made from vegetable oil and achiote seeds [Music] and sofrito once all of this is combined it's covered with a plantain leaf which adds flavor and traps steam to cook the rice next is meat beef and pork are favorites beef is traditionally well done and all meat is typically marinated overnight in adobo which is a dry rub that is as common as salt in puerto rico properly applying it to achieve the right consistency and flavor is considered a talent it's made of salt garlic powder cumin white pepper oregano and onion powder finally we have plantains plantains are the foundation for many of the key puerto rican dishes plantains are eaten in the classic meal as either platonutres dostones or amarillos latin nuntress or plantain chips are the puerto rican alternative to the potato chip they're served thinly sliced fried and salted tostones are very green plantains double fried and crispy their first fried pressed thin and then fried again there are molds and presses specifically for getting perfectly sized so sonas tostones and other fried root vegetables are commonly served with mayo ketchup [Music] it can also be seasoned with garlic adobo or pique a puerto rican vinegar-based hot sauce that i am frankly obsessed with amarillos are ripe plantains that are either fried or steeped in a sweet syrup called almibar they pair well with salty or cheesy dishes aside from being served as a side amarillos are used in another famous puerto rican dish binyon which is ripe plantain and beef lasagna now that we've got the basic meal covered i want to introduce you to a few other dishes there are way too many puerto rican specialties for me to cover in this video so i'll just introduce you to a few of my very favorites i was a plantain skeptic at first but it was mofongo that got me fully hooked this mixture is pressed into a mold or formed into a half dome it can be eaten as a side or stuffed with meat and served as a main course san culcho is a down-home style root vegetable and beef stew that's thought to have healing properties for hangovers in particular there's one more puerto rican food group that i want to cover together and that is fried snacks the love of fried snacks is strong in puerto rico there's a robust culture of fried food stands all over the island from the cities to the sides of the road let's talk about a few of the standout snacks empanadillas are a type of turnover their yellow or white dough pockets filled with anything unlike some empanadas the skin of empanadillas should be blistered and flaky because they're fried rather than baked they're made from basilio dough and american cheese or a ground beef filling [Applause] [Music] are flat salted cod fritters made from cod flour and adobo they're cooked at stands along the coast in particular finally there are soru yos soruyos is these can also be dipped liberally in milo ketchup now that you know the basics of a puerto rican meal meat rice and plantains some special dishes and fried snacks you should be able to navigate the menu at a puerto rican restaurant with ease these are the very basic elements of the cuisine and i hope you get the opportunity to explore this rich culinary tradition in more depth thank you so much for watching if you're like me and you love to explore the world through food definitely check out brighttrip.com there are a ton of travel courses on a bunch of different topics but my very favorites are the ones that talk about food culture in particular for a great example of this check out the courses on tokyo in cape town now go grab yourself an empanadilla and i'll see you next time adios bye

Channel: Bright Trip

Views: 32,986

Keywords: bright trip, iz harris, johnny harris, travel courses, learn to travel smarter, travel tutorials, how to travel 2020, how to travel 2021, travel youtube channel new, travel education channel youtube, Puerto Rico 2021, Puerto rican food, tostones, pink beans, traditional meal, learn the cuisine, plantains, mofongo puertorriqueno, you need to try this, international foods, mayoketchup, pique, food tourism, flavors of the world, cilantro, puerto rican essentials, food culture

Id: c6wTO9MHO1Y

Length: 8min 15sec (495 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 19 2021