That moment I got that S on my chest.

What is it about cooking rice that freaks people out so much? I cannot tell you how many times I hear people say to me,“I L-O-V-E rice, but I suck at making it!”. Then there’s “It never comes out good, its either undercooked or wet and too mushy; how do you do it?” Rice is the staple food of over ½ of the world’s population. I can tell you, it is an inescapable fact of life that you will eat rice if you have the privilege to be born in a Haitian household. Mastering the technique of getting it to your favored consistency can ensure that you will not die of hunger for lack of the ability of making it right. I finally feel ready to brooch this subject having had quite a few years of rice making practice, so here we go.

When I started cooking Haitian meals for my family, I must admit rice was a daunting challenge. I would get anxious about achieving that perfect consistency not to mention making it suitable for consumption as well. Getting your rice perfect in a Haitian household is equivalent to walking around with a giant S on your chest, you know like Superman/Supergirl. All the women in my family made it look so easy and effortless. Yet, each of their rices had distinctive tastes that set them all apart. What made it worse is that they all tasted divine. I would soon regret not paying attention while my mom was in the kitchen cooking it in her high heels backwards with one hand tied behind her back, but oh well we cant go back.

So, after a couple of failed attempts, the worst of which was the burnt salty inedible wet mush that would end up in the kitchen disposal, I decided to call my mom. I had no choice. The directions on the bag did not work out as planned. I needed to break my husband out of the pasta is the only starch we need habit and besides, I was determined to earn my stripes as a Haitian cook and stop traveling to and fro my mothers house with plastic containers.(nothing wrong with that though)

In that call, mommy talked me through achieving rice perfection. As if I already didn’t owe her more, she gave me life again. That day we only discussed making white rice, later on I would tackle the other rice combinations and their accoutrements to earn more stripes

My mother’s formula was simple. Follow two cardinal rules: one, always keep your ratio 2 to 1 meaning two cups of water for every 1 cup of rice; and two, do not mess with rice once it has settled into place and is boiling, meaning no stirring or fluffing until it is ¾ to fully cooked. Up until this day I still obey those rules as if she were standing over my shoulder with a watchful eye.

With more confidence I started to explore more combinations of flavors in rice, the most common one being diri kolè, aka rice and beans. There are also different types of rice in Haitian cuisine that require one to know what type to use for various combination or versions of a meal. There’s the long grained parboiled kind. Also there are both the fragrant jasmine and basmati type.

I will never forget the day my mom said in front of our family and friends at a holiday gathering that she considered my diri kolè to be to be one of the best she tasted. She asked me for my technique. I think my heart skipped a beat. To have a person who’s cooking you admired all your life tell you they liked your food is one of the highest honors a person could get ,second only to your children asking for seconds of your home cooked food.

In this post we will tackle the traditional diri kole. In its literal sense it means rice stuck on. The name is referring to the characteristic of the rice which during cooking adopts the color of the reserve water of the beans it has been boiled in and with. In this recipe, I am using the beans that are my favorite, the pinto bean. The pinto bean gives the rice a pinkish brown tint .

Feel free to experiment with the bean of your preference. Many people like to use Red Kidney beans ,which gives a distinct brown color. You can also use black beans, which will give your rice a dark brown/blackish tint, but it is not to be confused with the infamous fragrant diri Djon Djon, often referred to as “the black rice”. The Djon Djon recipe is coming soon though. In the meantime, remember the two cardinal rules : Always keep your water to rice ratio 2 to 1, and do not stir or fluff rice once it has settled into place(after the initial stir to prevent sticking).

Get to cooking and get that S on your chest.

Depending on your appetite this recipe makes about 6 servings of rice(based on 1 cup cooked rice per serving) If you are Caribbean,just ignore the serving because we don't follow serving rules😜😜😜

Recipe

Beans

1 Cup Pinto Beans

3-4 cups of Water

1 Clove of Garlic

Rice

3 Cups of reserve water from drained boiled beans (if your reserve water is less, add water to make it equal the 3cups)

1 Cup of Coconut milk

2 Cups of Long grain parboiled rice 1 ½ tsp Salt ¼ cup of oil

1 Sprig Parsley

1 Sprig Thyme

1 Clove of Garlic

4 Whole cloves

¼ of a whole Pepper ( color of your liking)

First add 1 cup of Pinto Beans to 3-4 cups of boiling water, reduce boil to a medium simmer after about 5 minutes.

Boil beans until they are fork tender (about 20-30 minutes) Try not to overcook because they can get to mushy with will change the consistency of your rice.

Drain beans and set both reserve water and beans aside.

Add oil, garlic,parsley and thyme sprig to pot and fry on medium/low heat for 3-5 minutes.

Add reserve water to the pot and set heat on high for a rolling boil.

Now this is a little trick I like to use to infuse the clove and pepper to my rice. Take the quartered pepper and pierce it with 4 whole cloves on the outside and add it to boiling reserve bean water before you add rice. If you are game you can pierce a whole scotch bonnet pepper with the cloves instead and add to water making sure not to break the pepper open during cooking. The smell and the infusion of heat will make your belly smile😊

Add 2 cups of rice to reserve boiling water. Do not walk away from pot, gradually reduce heat from high to low as water starts to reduce in pot.

When water has gone down to this level, it should be covered.

When rice is covered, let it cook for about ten to fifteen more minutes on low.

Once rice is fully cooked,remove and discard the quartered red pepper. Eating a clove will be unforgettable and most regrettable.It could be considered a rite of passage in Haitian culture.LOL.

All thats left is to plate and serve. I usually like my rice with some gravy and a flavorful braised meat, but sometimes its so delicious I can eat it all by itself. Happy eating.