Dominican Rice Recipe Made with Smoked Chops
Locrios are one of my favorite Dominican rice dishes. They’re essentially Dominican style Jambalaya and Paella. Today’s recipe is Locrio de Chuletas Ahumada, which is a Dominican rice recipe made with smoked pork chops! The results are absolutely delicious!
If you’ve never had smoked pork chops, take this as your cue to run to the supermarket and try some. Smoked pork chops are rich in flavor, which is why I love adding them to dishes like Sancocho Dominicano and Asopao de Pollo. The smokey flavor of the pork chops really adds a nice subtle richness to the dish.
Just like other Locrio recipes on my YouTube channel and website such as Locrio de Salami and Locrio de Pollo, Locrio simply refers to any rice dish that’s cooked with some kind of meat. The possibilities are endless whether you make them with chicken, pork chops, sausage, and even seafood.
My favorite Locrio is hands Locrio de Salami. However, sometimes I want a little extra kick. Locrio de Chuletas Ahumada is salami’s cousin that comes to the party with a little extra razzle dazzle. This Dominican rice recipe made with smoked pork chops follows many of the same principles as other Locrio recipes that I’ve shared.
Cooking Tips when making Locrio de Chuletas Ahumada
Tip #1: It’s best to brown any protein that you’re using first, that’s chicken, sausage, pork chops etc… This will allow for you to build color and texture. It also helps seal any seasoning and flavorings that you’ve added to the protein.
Tip #2: Make sure that you’re using fresh onions and peppers and not just onion powder, garlic powder etc… Because you’re making a rice dish, you want to layer in as much flavor as possible. If you have picky kids or relatives who don’t like onions and peppers, mincing them small will allow them to disappear into the rice. By the time dinner is served, they’ll never know that they were there to begin with
Tip #3: Pre-wash the rice. Rinsing the rice under cold water until the water runs clear will ensure that you have the fluffiest rice ever
Tip #4: When making Locrio de Chuleta Ahumada specifically, make sure that you trim as much of the fat as possible. This will yield a rice that’s perfect in texture. It also means that you’ll have all meat pieces and you never have to bite into a piece of soft fat. (Ew!)
Tip #5: Toasting the rice with spices and smoked pork chops is a personal decision. Don’t feel like this will make or break the dish
Tip #6: Lastly, when making rice, I use a 1:1 ratio. I’ve said countless times that this is what works for me and my stove. Feel free to use the ratio that works for you. As you can see in my How to Make Dominican Locrio de Chuletas Ahumada video, the rice comes out PERFECTLY fluffy.
Are you hungry, yet? Let’s jump right into the recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Smoked Pork Chops
- 3 Cups Long Grain White Rice
- 1 Onion
- 1 Cubanelle Pepper
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 3 Cups Water
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Annatto Powder / Sazón Achiote
- 1 tbsp Chicken Bouillon Cube
- 1 tsp Dominican Orégano
- 2 ½ tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 tbsp Cilantro
Instructions
- Diced smoked pork chops into 1 inch pieces leaving behind the bone
- In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Then add smoked pork chops. Cook for 10-15 minutes until they are brown and crispy. Pork chops will release its own juice, which is normal. This will cook out and evaporate on its own
- Once pork chops are browned, add diced onions, peppers and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes until soft. Then add Dominican oregano, sazon con achiote, and seasoning salt. Mix together until well combined. Then add tomato paste mix until the tomato paste has been fully worked into the pork chop - onion - garlic mixture
- Rinse long grain white rice and add to the pot. Mix until rice is fully covered in seasonings. Then add water and mix again. Continue to mix occasionally as water begins to evaporate.
- Once 90% of the water has dried up, mix one final time and add fresh cilantro. Concentrate the cilantro towards the center of the pot so that it will be easy to pick out later on. Cover the pot with a lid and reduce flame to LOW. Cook for 30-40 minutes until rice is fluffy.
- After 30-40 mins, remove the lid and carefully fluff up the rice. Remove the cilantro. Turn off flame and remove pot from the stove. Enjoy while warm with beans, tostones, or a fresh salad.
