01/01/2023
It is old year's night 2022. I am trying to give you this recipe for Guyanese Cook-up Rice which is one of the iconic meal that you will find tonight in the pot of nearly every kitchen in Guyana.
This is a one-pot meat and there is no one recipe for cook-up rice. It is a highly customizable dish in terms of what type of beans and meat you can include.
Old years night is not complete without this - because we must go into the new year with food with the pot, ad money in your wallet.
INGREDIENTS
10 cups water (if you like it less watery, add 8 cups water instead)
1 onion diced
2-3 scallions chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped (optional)
1 sprig of oregano, coarsely chopped
1 small sprig of rosemary, coarsely chopped
1-2 sprigs of thyme, removed from stem
2 bay leaves
2 wiri wiri pepper (or crushed red pepper)
1-2 small bouillon cubes
2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp cassareep
1 tbsp old bay seasoning
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup chopped spinach (optional)
1 15.5oz canned beans of your choice or *dry beans
2 ½ cups parboiled rice (any other type of rice will be too soft to hold up to the heavy ingredients in this dish)
2-3 pounds of your choice of meat
CHICKEN:
2-3lbs chicken (or any type of meat you prefer)
season meat to your tastes, but here is an idea of how I seasoned my chicken
2 tbsp of onion and garlic puree
1 tsp cassareep
cayenne pepper
black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp oil
INSTRUCTIONS
IF YOU ARE USING DRIED BEANS:
In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Add dried beans to boiling water.
In the meantime, dice onions, garlic, scallions, and green pepper add to the boiling water. Add in wiri wiri pepper or crushed red pepper, fresh herbs, bay leaves, and bouillon cubes.
When beans are slightly soft, add coconut milk, cassareep, and spinach (if you are using spinach). Let this mixture boil for 15 minutes.
Place rice in a mixing bowl and run the tap water over it on low, until the water goes clear (this method is how we wash rice in the West Indies). Drain water from rice and add to the pot.
Add old bay seasoning and black pepper. Let rice boil until the rice is cooked, you can take one out to feel if it is soft or not. When the cook-up is close to being done, you will see that it is wet and soupy looking, there will hardly be any liquid left in the pot. Now at this point, add your cooked meat and give it a good stir.
Remove from heat and cool. This will taste the best on the next day, trust me!
IF YOU ARE USING CANNED BEANS:
In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water to a boil.
In the meantime, dice onions, garlic, scallions, and green pepper add to the boiling water. Add in wiri wiri pepper or crushed red pepper, fresh herbs, bay leaves, and bouillon cubes. Let ingredients cook for 10-12 minutes.
Add in coconut milk and cassareep and spinach (if you are using spinach). Let mixture boil for 7-8 minutes.
Place rice in a mixing bowl and run the tap water over it on low, until the water goes clear (this method is how we wash rice in the West Indies). Drain water from rice and add to the pot.
Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Add old bay seasoning and black pepper. Let rice boil until the rice is cooked, you can take one out to feel if it is soft or not.
When the cook-up is close to being done, you will see that it is wet and soupy looking, there will hardly be any liquid left in the pot. Now at this point, add your cooked meat and give it a good stir.
Remove from heat and cool. This will taste the best on the next day, trust me!
Happy cooking! 😀
