Moro de Guandules con Coco

The Dominican Christmas rice: rice cooked in one pot with pigeon peas, sofrito, and coconut milk until every grain is separate and a crisp concón forms on the bottom

Origin: Samaná & the Dominican Republic

From the journey of Pigeon Pea.

A moro in the Dominican Republic is rice cooked in one pot with beans or peas, and moro de guandules is the one made with pigeon peas. A sofrito of onion, pepper, garlic, and celery is cooked down with tomato paste and the island's herbs, the pigeon peas are added, then water or stock and the rice, and the pot is left to absorb and steam until each grain is separate. The crust that forms on the bottom of the pot, the concón, is fought over at the table. On the Samaná peninsula in the north-east, where coconut palms line the coast, the rice is cooked in coconut milk, and moro de guandules con coco has become a dish of the whole country, above all at Christmas, when it sits beside roast pork on the Nochebuena table. It is the Dominican sister of Puerto Rico's arroz con gandules and Panama's arroz con guandú y coco: three Christmas rices, made from the same pulse, carried to the Caribbean by the same trade. On the other side of the island, in Haiti, the pigeon pea is pwa kongo, the Congo pea, a name that remembers where it came from.

Ingredients

Sofrito

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
0.5 green bell pepper, finely chopped
0.5 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp chopped coriander or culantro

Rice

400 g cooked green pigeon peas (guandules), fresh, frozen, or tinned and drained
400 g long-grain white rice, rinsed
400 ml coconut milk
400 ml water or chicken stock
1.5 tsp salt, or to taste
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled (optional)

Method

Heat the oil in a heavy, wide pot (a Dominican caldero if you have one). Fry the onion, peppers, and celery gently for 5 minutes, then add the garlic, tomato paste, oregano, and coriander and cook for 2 minutes more.
Add the pigeon peas and stir to coat. Pour in the coconut milk and water, add the salt and stock cube, and bring to the boil. Taste: the liquid should be a little saltier than you want the rice.
Add the rice, stir once, and boil uncovered until the liquid has almost disappeared below the surface of the rice.
Turn the heat to its lowest, fold the rice once from the bottom, cover tightly, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the rice is tender.
Fluff the rice, serve, and scrape up the concón from the bottom to share.

Notes

Without the coconut milk, using all water or stock, this is the everyday moro de guandules. Dried pigeon peas should be soaked overnight and boiled for about an hour before use.

The Gastrographer

Name: Moro de Guandules con Coco
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Samaná & the Dominican Republic
Ingredients: 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 0.5 green bell pepper, finely chopped; 0.5 red bell pepper, finely chopped; 1 stick celery, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 tbsp chopped coriander or culantro; 400 g cooked green pigeon peas (guandules), fresh, frozen, or tinned and drained; 400 g long-grain white rice, rinsed; 400 ml coconut milk; 400 ml water or chicken stock; 1.5 tsp salt, or to taste; 1 chicken stock cube, crumbled (optional)

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

To explore — select an ingredient below · click any location dot on the map for recipes and stories · browse the information panel on the right · trace the full journey on the timeline.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control