A Breakdown of Puerto Rican Cuisine

The flavor of the food is delicious, it's soft, perfect

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 Willow 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

You can make it mixed with habichuelas or with gandules. Beans are called habichuelas in Puerto Rico

Habichuelas rosadas. As the pindo bean is to Mexico and the black bean is to Cuba, the pink bean is to Puerto Rico, although white beans are also eaten

Habichuelas rosadas, they make, you add sofrito. Gubanella peppers. I add a cup of vinegar to make the taste of it

Smoked ham. And calabaza. You don drain these beans You serve them stewed with the liquid Sofrito is the most basic and widely used Puerto Rican flavor element

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 in 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 gandules. 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

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 platanutres, tostones, or amarillos

Platanutres or plantain chips are the Puerto Rican alternative to the potato chip They served thinly sliced fried and salted Tostones are very green plantains double fried and crispy

They're first fried, pressed thin, and then fried again. They're mold and presses specifically for getting perfectly sized tostones

Tostones and other fried root vegetables are commonly served with mayo ketchup

You make it with ketchup, mayonnaise, and mayo ketchup. You mix everything and you mix the tostones

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, piñón, 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

Sancocho is a down-home style root vegetable and beef stew that's thought to have healing properties, for hangovers in particular

pañame, maíz, batata. Es una mezcla de viandas de todo tipo viandas

Tú lo echas ahí en una olla bien grande con agua y con sofritos

y con salsa de tomate There 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. They're yellow or white dill 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 basiliodo and American cheese or a ground beef filling

Bacalauitos are flat salted cod fritters made from cod, flour, and adobo

They're cooked at stands along the coast in particular. Finally, there are sorullos

Sorullos are salty corn stick fritters. These can also be dipped liberally in mayo 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 these

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 and Cape Town. Now go grab yourself an Embanadilla, and I'll see you next time

Adios