Mexican Red Rice and Fried Eggs With Pico de Gallo

I have been meaning to add this recipe to the blog for ages, if there is one dish that is on repeat in my home it’s this: “arroz rojo” or “red rice” in English is another staple in Mexican homes, a plate of freshly made rice and beans is almost always present in a meal.

After spending 10 years living outside of Mexico , the most humble and homely meals are the ones that I crave the most, this is pure mama’s food ! a big warm hug in a plate, and I serve it just like my granny likes it with a fried egg on top, this makes a full and nourishing meal in itself for you and your family.

I like to use quail eggs to switch it up a bit sometimes and because I love their taste, but chicken or duck eggs can be used too.

I often make this recipe for lunch but it’s perfect for dinner as well, you can have it as a full meal or side dish depending on your appetite, either way I hope you enjoy this recipe and find it useful in your everyday cooking.

Serves 4 bowls.

Ingredients:

Mexican Red Rice.

2 cups of basmati rice.

1 tbsp rapeseed oil, (or any cooking oil of your preference)

1 cup of roasted tomato recaudo.

3 cups of water, vegetable or chicken stock.

1 tbsp salt.

1 bay leaf.

2 quail eggs per person or 1 free range chicken egg per person.

Oil for frying.

Maldon salt for seasoning.

Pico de Gallo.

5 vine tomatoes, (diced).

100 grams of cherry tomatoes ( or heirloom if in season), (sliced in halves or quarters).

1/2 red onion (finely diced).

2 fresh jalapeños , (finely chopped).

Two handfuls of coriander, roughly chopped.

2 limes (juice).

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

150 grams of feta cheese, (optional).

Sea salt and black coarse pepper for seasoning.

Method:

Start by preparing your rice, for this you need to measure 2 cups of rice and place it on a fine mesh sieve and then directly under running tap water, wash your rice until the water comes out clear at the bottom, you only need to do this for a minute or two.

Then let your rice dry for a bit while you get a medium size sauce pan and heat up the rapeseed oil, once your oil is hot add the rice and stir fry your rice lightly , then add the roasted tomato recaudo and continue stirring until all the rice is covered in the tomato mixture.

You may then add your water, salt and bay leaf , stir gently to incorporate the salt into the mixture, bring to a boil , reduce the flame to a low medium heat, cover with a lid and let the pot do its magic, no more stirring from this point or you’ll make your rice mushy, so just let all the liquid to be absorbed and cook the rice this takes about 20 minutes.

In the meantime prepare your pico de gallo by adding all of the ingredients into a bowl, season with maldon salt and black pepper, you can add crumbled feta cheese optionally, mix with a spoon and taste , adjust seasoning if necessary.

Remove the lid from your sauce pan and with a spoon check the surface of your rice, it should be cooked through, but if is still a bit hard just add a bit more water cover back with a lid a cook for a further 5 minutes, then check again, remove from the heat once is ready and set your rice aside, keep it covered to maintain it warm.

Heat up your oil in a frying pan, fry your eggs and simply season with a bit of maldon salt, serve your rice in bowls, add your fried eggs on top and generous spoonfuls of picked gallo, perhaps a glass of white wine on the side and enjoy!