How Do You Make Fluffy Black Bean Rice Without Water?
This black bean rice is cooked without water, using only coconut milk and stock, in a single pot and with nothing fried. It's ready in twenty minutes, and a simple trick keeps the grains fluffy and separate.
Ingredients for Three People
The base is long-grain rice: 200 grams. The cooking liquid replaces water entirely: 200 milliliters of light coconut milk and 250 milliliters of hot, low-sodium stock.
You'll also need a can of drained black beans, half an onion, half a red bell pepper, two garlic cloves and a teaspoon of cumin. To finish, a lime and cilantro. If you don't like cilantro, you can use parsley.
You'll also need a tablespoon of oil and half a teaspoon of salt.
Step by Step: One Pot and Twenty Minutes
Chop the onion and the bell pepper. Gently sauté them in the pot with a tablespoon of oil for three minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and cook for another thirty seconds.
Add the rice without rinsing it. Stir it for one minute, until the grains look pearly.
Pour in the coconut milk and the stock. When it starts to boil, add half a teaspoon of salt, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cover the pot. Let it cook for twelve minutes without lifting the lid.
After that time, turn off the heat. Spread the beans over the top, cover again and let it rest for three minutes. The steam trapped inside warms them through.
To serve, add lime juice and cilantro on top.
Why Rice Turns Mushy and How to Prevent It
If your rice always comes out mushy, the problem usually isn't the amount of liquid. It's the spoon.
Every time you stir, you rub the grains and they release starch. That starch is what makes the grains stick together.
That's why, in this recipe, the rice is only stirred at the start, while it turns pearly. After that it isn't touched until the end, and then only with a fork.
Watch Out for High Heat
Coconut milk contains solids that stick to the bottom of the pot over high heat. When this happens, you'll notice a caramel smell.
To prevent it, keep the heat at the lowest setting for the full twelve minutes of cooking.
Interestingly, in Cartagena de Indias this toasting is sought out on purpose and even has a name: titoté. What this recipe treats as a mistake is part of the preparation there.
How Much Fiber Each Serving Provides
According to USDA tables, each serving of this recipe contains around seven grams of fiber.
EFSA recommends eating 25 grams of fiber a day. A plate of this rice therefore covers more than a quarter of that amount.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to rinse the rice before cooking it?
No. In this recipe the rice goes in unrinsed and is stirred in the pot for one minute until it turns pearly.
Why shouldn't you lift the lid while the rice cooks?
The rice needs to cook for twelve minutes covered and untouched. Stirring it releases starch and makes it mushy.
When do you add the black beans?
At the end, with the heat off. They're placed on top of the rice, the pot is covered and they rest for three minutes so the steam warms them.
What happens if I cook the rice over high heat?
The coconut milk solids stick to the bottom and smell like caramel. To prevent this, cook over the lowest heat.
Informative article written with the help of AI tools from the verified script of the video. The video is in Spanish.