Guamanian Red Rice

The Crock Pot Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) was just the tail end of a week of furious cooking. So I'll just blog backwards.

A while back, Canine Cologne of Pink Candles at Ridgemont High had posted a recipe for Guamanian red rice. I've never eaten Guamanian food before and was intrigued by the use of annatto seed powder to color the rice, rather than tomato paste like my Com Do Ca Chua (Vietnamese Tomato Paste Rice). Her secret ingredient, that she learned from an older Guamanian woman, was the use of roasted chicken base paste. Since I couldn't find the chicken paste, I had forgotten all about the recipe until Canine Cologne mailed me a tub. So nice and so unexpected! She had earlier generously sent me gourmet chocolates and handmade earrings!

Canine Cologne used celery leaves and chicken paste in her version. I didn't have any celery on hand, but, since I knew Santos of The Scent of Green Bananas lived in Guam, I checked her blog to see if she had another version. Sauteed bacon and onions, no celery. I had that. So I combined a bit of both recipes for my version. Since the chicken paste can be hard to find, I'd say it's optional. Or you could just roast a chicken and take a spoonful of the congealed juices, which is what it seems like to me. I bet the paste would be great with rice pilaf too.

When I originally made this, I added 2 tblsps of annatto seed to water and microwaved it to get the liquid red like I did with my Crock Pot Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew). Unfortunately, the rice turned out golden, and not red. So I added 2 tblsps of annatto seed powder and cooked it again and it came out reeeed! Use less if you don't want such a vibrant color.




Guamanian Red Rice
Adapted from Pink Candles at Ridgemont High and The Scent of Green Bananas

For 2 cups of rice, you'll need:
4 to 6 strips of bacon, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 cups uncooked rice
2 tblsp annatto seed powder

Optional: 1 tblsp roasted chicken base paste

Dice the bacon and onion. Saute in a pan on medium-high heat until the bacon is as softened or crispy as you'd like. Drain excess fat. I usually move the bacon and onion to one side, tilt the pan, and use a paper towel to absorb the excess fat.


Then, if you have it, add 1 tblsp roasted chicken base and stir to mix.


Add 2 cups of rice and mix again.


Then add 2 tblsps annatto seed powder and mix again. You can pour everything into your rice cooker and cook as normal. Or add 1 1/2 cups water to the pan, cover, and cook on medium-low until the rice is cooked. Look at how red it became!


Enjoy!

Who else made Guamanian red rice?
Canine Cologne of Pink Candles at Ridgemont High used celery leaves and roasted chicken paste.
Santos of The Scent of Green Bananas sauteed bacon and half an onion.

I'm submitting this recipe to Regional Recipes, a food blogging event created by Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok, in which a different culture and cuisine is explored each month. Please read the Regional Recipe rules to see if you'd like to participate. Darlene is this month's host and we're spotlighting the Pacific Islands.

The only other Pacific island recipe I have is my very ineptly-made Hawaiian Spam musubi. I still make it pretty ugly, but it tastes good!

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1 year ago today, Pumpkin Pie with Chai Spices.
2 years ago today, my geraniums give me Christmas colors year-round.
3 years ago today, I finally got around to writing an "About this blog" post.