Dad's One Pot Spanish Rice
and how I use leftover rice water
If you’ve been following me for a while you probably know that I eat rice almost daily, in primarily Cantonese dishes.
And hopefully you know that you should wash your rice before cooking it.
But what do you do with that leftover water from washing it?
Lately I’ve been using it for my hair. I store it in a jar, and let it ferment for a day, then when I shower I pour it over my head after shampooing, before conditioner. Apparently it helps make your hair strong.
I’ve also used it in the past as a toner / essence, essentially as a way to add moisture to my skin.
So if you’re looking for ways to reduce waste, and use your leftover rice water, try using it on your hair and skin.
This recipe is actually my Dad’s. It’s one of his staple dishes. I posted this recipe on social media over a year ago, but recently it’s been gaining some interest. So I thought I’d share it here — as this month’s free recipe — for all to enjoy.
Also, no this is not really Spanish Rice, or so I’ve been told by some folks on TikTok. And from my understanding, this is a dish that is more common in Mexico than Spain. Regardless, it’s a tasty dish, and represents a complete meal when paired with some steamed veggies.
Dad’s One Pot Spanish Rice
Serves: 4 - 6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Tools:
A big pot
Ingredients
2 - 4 tbsp vegetable oil (depends on how much oil you like using for frying - up to you!)
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 package veggie ground round (I like Yves)
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice (washed!)
2 cups water
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes (28 liquid ounces of 792 mL)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp curry paste (optional - my Dad uses Patak’s)
Method
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. The size of your dicing is quite forgiving so don’t worry about being lazy and making the dices on the larger end.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot, stir in the onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
Stir in the veggie ground round, rice, water, canned tomatoes, salt, and curry paste (if using).
Bring everything to a boil.
Give it a good stir to get everything off the bottom, and then reduce to low heat.
Simmer until rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, which should take about 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
Link to printer version.
Why the curry paste? Because this is how my Dad makes it. And it does make the Spanish Rice come out quite tasty!
Make it tastier: Some ideas:
Add a second onion.
Add some extra garlic.
Add some green onion.
Caramelize the onion first (fry it for about 10 - 15 minutes), and then add the garlic, and proceed with the remainder of the steps in the recipe.
Add 2 tbsp of curry paste.
Add 1 tbsp of soya sauce or miso.
Add a diced green pepper.
Add some cumin in with the onion.
Does this work in a rice cooker? Yes!
Can I make this in an instant pot? Yes!
Veggie Ground Round: Lentils! Red or brown would work.
If using red: Wash them and mix them in at the same time as you would add the Veggie Ground Round.
If using brown lentils it’s the same, but you may need to cook everything for an extra 10 minutes. Make sure to taste test the lentils before you finish cooking. They should be soft, not tough.
White rice: You can use brown rice if you like, but keep in mind that brown rice requires more water than white rice.
Canned tomatoes: If you like, you could use fresh tomatoes. One 28-ounce can is equal to about 10 - 12 tomoates. I prefer using canned because it’s faster and cheaper.