Moro is a way of life and no Dominican, Cuban, or Puerto Rican gathering is complete without some sort of moro. There’s Moro de Gandules, Congris aka Moro Negro or Moro de Habichuela Negra and of course– Moro de Habichuelas. Each of the Hispanic Caribbean Island has their favorite Moro the same way that every family has their own favorite. Most interesting, is that our cousin islands in the West Indies have their own version of Moro, which they call different things like Rice & Peas, Pelao and so forth.
These Moro recipes vary island-to-island, house-to-house, and grandma-to-grandma. There’s a ton of different ways to make this delicious must have dish. In some regions of the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, people add coconut milk to the moro, which gives the an undeniable Caribbean flavor and sweetness. Others, like to render bacon for a smokey base, which will leave you licking your lips and looking for more. I personally like to infuse culantro into the rice for a rich herbaceous- campo flavor.
Today I’m going to share my easy-no fuss version of Moro de Habichuela. It’s my go to way of making it whenever I’m in a rush or coming home from work. Ideally, you would make this dish from scratch by softening the beans for hours. However, sometimes we have to do things in a rush and canned beans will do the trick. As always, if you’d like to see a step-by-step tutorial on How to Make an Easy Moro de Habichuela visit my YouTube channel: Made to Order
Ingredients
- 2 cups of white rice
- 1 can of Pink, Pinto, or Red Beans
- 1 tbs Chicken Bouillon Cube
- 1 packet of sazon
- ½ tbs tomato paste
- ½ red onion
- ¼ cubanelle pepper or green bell pepper
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- ¼ tsp ground Dominican oregano
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- ½ tsp Adobo *optional
- Recao-- culantro and cilantro
- Canola Oil
- 2 cups of water
Instructions
- Dice up onions, garlic, and pepper and set aside
- In a medium sized pot or caldero, heat up oil
- Add onions, garlic, and peppers and saute for 2-5 minutes or until they soften and become translucent
- Add black pepper, orégano, chicken bouillon cube and sazón packet. Stir for about 2 minutes or until chicken bouillon cube has dissolved
- Now add tomato paste and stir until it’s well combined
- Add beans and stir. Sautee for another 2 minutes
- Now add water and let that come to boil
- Once the water begins to boil, add the washed long grain white rice
- Stir the rice and keep an eye on it
- Once the water in the rice has dried up, stir once again and add recao
- Now cover the pot with tight lid and reduce flame to lowest possible setting
- Steam rice for 25 mins without opening the lid!
- After 25-30mins, open lid and stir rice again. This will fluff up the rice.
- Add a touch of oil, which will help get rid of clumps
Notes
If you uncover your rice after 25-30mins and it's still somewhat under cooked, simply add ¼ cup of water and cover the rice again. Let it steam for an additional 10 mins and you'll have perfect rice!
Enjoy with your favorite chicken, beef, or pork recipe!
Here are some great accompaniments for Moro de Habichuelas:
