Asopao Puerto Rico Recipes

ASOPAO DE POLLO

Steps:

• Season chicken thighs with black pepper and adobo seasoning.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir green pepper, red pepper, onion, garlic, and tomato paste in the hot oil, until the vegetables have softened slightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove vegetables from the pot and set aside.
• Pan fry chicken in the pot until browned, 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Return cooked vegetables to the pot along with rice, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rice is tender and chicken is no longer pink inside, about 20 minutes.
• Stir in peas and olives and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf. Stir in cilantro and serve.

PUERTO RICAN SEAFOOD SOUP: ASOPAO DE MARISCOS

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom the pan thinly and saute the large diced white onion and large diced green pepper until translucent. Add lobster heads and shrimp shells. Cook until color starts changing and starts to look red. Add tomato sauce, white wine, and bay leaf. Add clam juice and water. Cook for at least 2 hours, then strain.
• In a medium size stockpot, saute the small diced onion, and small diced pepper until translucent. Add rice, clams, mussels, bay leaf, and a pinch of saffron. Add all strained seafood stock and cook until rice is soft, approximately 20 minutes. Add shrimp, scallops, and lobster. Cook for approximately 8 minutes. Add culantro and season with salt and pepper.

PUERTO RICAN ASOPAO DE POLLO

Steps:

• Grind all the Adobo ingredients together in a mortar and pestle or food processor to make a paste.
• In a cast-iron or heavy skillet, heat ½ cup olive oil. When very hot, add annatto seeds. Turn heat to low, continue cooking, stirring frequently, for approximately 5 minutes, until oil is a rich orange-red color. Allow to cool, then strain into a clean glass container. Set aside. Discard seeds.
• Whir all Sofrito ingredients in a blender until chopped.
• Add 1/4 part of the sofrito with the vinegar to the adobo mixture in a bowl and blend well. Rub the mixture over the chicken pieces. Let marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Place remaining sofrito mixture in tight lidded container and refridgerate.
• In a soup pot, heat the achiote oil. Add remaining 3/4 part of the sofrito. Cook for 2 minutes.
• Add chicken. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently to ensure that all the pieces of chicken are seasoned. Continue cooking a few minutes more until the chicken is opaque.
• Add the white wine and tomato sauce and stir well, then add the rice, water, capers, olives, bay leaves, oregano, and salt. Return the mixture to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, 20 to 25 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

ASOPAO - PUERTO RICO

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mash garlic with the back of a spoon.
• Rub garlic into chicken.
• In a wide, shallow bowl combine flour, salt, black pepper, and oregano.
• Roll chicken pieces in flour mixture.
• In a large kettle, melt lard over medium high heat.
• Add chicken and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until brown.
• Remove from kettle and set aside.
• Add green pepper and onions to kettle and saute until onions are transparent.
• Stir in ham and tomatoes.
• Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
• Return chicken to kettle and stir well.
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.
• Remove chicken from tomato mixture.
• When cool, remove meat from bones and cut into bite-size pieces.
• Add chicken broth and rice to tomato mixture and stir well.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce heat to low and cover, placing a paper towel between the kettle and the lid.
• Simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add peas, olives, parmesan cheese, and chicken and stir well.
• Cover and cook for 5 more minutes.

ASOPAO DE POLLO (PUERTO RICAN CHICKEN STEW)

Steps:

• Blend 1 cup chicken stock with lime juice, bell pepper, sweet pepper, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, and oregano to make the sofrito.
• Combine olive oil and annatto seeds in a large skillet over medium heat. Heat until seeds start to open up and oil turns a yellow-orange color, 3 to 4 minutes. Add enough chicken to cover the pan in a single layer without overcrowding. Cook, turning halfway, until juices run clear, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Combine remaining chicken stock, 1/2 of the sofrito, and bay leaves in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice, tomato, green peas, onion, green olives, capers, adobo seasoning, salt, and pepper.
• Add the cooked chicken to the broth. Saute remaining chicken in the annatto oil before adding to the pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer until rice is tender, about 20 minutes more.