Gallo Pinto ( Costa Rican Rice & Beans )

Gallo Pinto is considered the national dish of Costa Rica. Gallo Pinto is served all throughout Latin America, though each country names it differently. Cubans call it "Congris" and in some parts of Nicaragua it is called " arroz y frijoles"- meaning "rice with black beans".  I had a chance to taste this Authentic Costa Rican dish when we stayed on a very quaint B&B in El, Valle - one of the highlands of Panama. The owner of the B&B place is  a Costa Rican and he served this delicious and hearty breakfast. He said Gallo Pinto means " spotted rooster" , I was expecting a meat but I was amazed to learned that it was actually "meat-free". It is a very tasty rice dish with beans, herbs and spices. I highly recommend this for you to try, it is super easy to prepare. For Asians like me, the cooking technique is like cooking fried rice.  Only, the spices are different.

Gallo Pinto ( Costa Rican Rice & Beans ) Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup white  rice
½ vegetable or chicken broth or knorr cubes
1 cup of black beans
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon  ground coriander
2 dried ancho chilie peppers ( remove seeds or substitute with bell peppers)
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
1 large onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic ( minced)
1/3 cup cilantro ( finely chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Direction:

The Beans

• Soak beans for 8 hours. Refrigerate.
• After soaking, change the water and add 6 cups of water and bring to simmer for around 90 minutes. Check water once in a while. Check beans for doneness. You can do this step on pressure cooker or crock pot.
• Reserve beans with some of the water.

The Rice

• Cook rice with the dissolve broth cubes. ( I used 1 part ratio for rice and cooked in a rice cooker)
•  Refrigerate the cooked rice overnight.

Gallo Pinto

• Heat pan with vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add onion. Sauté for 5 minutes or until onion turns translucent.
• Add garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander and bell peppers. Sauté for another minute. Add more vegetable oil if necessary.
• Add the cooked rice and stir fry for 1 minute, breaking up any chunks.
• Once all the rice change color, add the cooked beans, starting with 1 cup. Make sure the ratio of beans will not over power the rice. Add 2-3 tablespoon of the bean water. Combine the rice and beans evenly and cook until mixture is heated through.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro.
• For breakfast, serve this with scramble egg, fried plantains and chorizo.
• Enjoy and share!