Puerto Rican

Add the creamy Puerto Rican coconut and rum drink known as coquito to your festive cocktail rotation and enjoy throughout the holiday season.

Depending on their level of ripeness, plantains can be savory or sweet—for this sweet plantains recipe, look for mostly black ones.

这是一个自制的香料混合版本的奇迹ure that's a staple in Puerto Rican kitchens.

A pesto that uses the versatile herb culantro, which tastes a little like a cross between parsley and cilantro.

This twist on the piña colada uses frozen mango instead of pineapple for a delightfully smooth and fragrant cocktail.

Editor's note:Use this with Maricel Presilla'sBoiled Yuca (Yuca Hervida).Ajilimójili(ah-hee-lee-MOH-hee-lee) is the wonderful whimsical name for this Puerto Rican–inspired sauce. How to translate this tongue-twister? It seems that it is a composite of the wordsajo(garlic) andmoje(sauce), but much more can be drawn from it. In Cuba and the Mexican state of Tabasco,ajilimójiliis a colloquialism for the Castilian Spanishintríngulis, a hidden reason that is suddenly revealed, or the workings necessary to pull something off, or the key to making a difficult feat look simple. Why was this sauce calledajilimójili? Perhaps because it has its ownajilimójili—the "inner workings" to make any food it touches splendid. Serve withPuerto RicanPasteles.

The Christmas season in Puerto Rico is blessed with balmy weather and clear skies. There is nothing like dining under the shade of a gourd tree on Christmas Eve, savoring every morsel of the earthy tamales calledpastelesandadobo-flavored pork while looking at the sea. Puerto Rican women get together with their families to preparepastelesby the hundred, freezing them until needed for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, family reunions, the Fiesta de Reyes, and the religious season calledoctavasthat follows the Feast of the Epiphany. It is the blend of the tiny pepperají dulceand broad-leafculantroin the fragrantsofrito(cooking sauce) that gives an unmistakable Puerto Rican identity to these earthy tamales. A dash of vinegar lends thesofritojust the right amount of tang against the mild dough ofmalangaand plantain tinted orange-yellow with achiote-infused lard. I learned to make these in the traditional kitchen of the Puerto Rican side of my family. While one person took care of trimming the plantain leaves, others were busy grating the vegetables and making thesofrito. There the vegetables are grated by hand, though you can find machines designed specially for this purpose in any market or use a food processor. Puerto Ricans are extremely fussy about the wrapping—it has to be perfect and watertight becausepastelesare normally boiled. But I prefer to steam them.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of aPalm Tree Christmas menuhe created exclusively for Epicurious. At Wessel family Christmases at Grandmother Esther's house in Miami Beach, the main courses were Florida-centric, but the desserts were not. This particular rum cake was often served by one of Wessel's aunts. "I think all the Irish side of our family loved it because it was loaded with rum," he says, joking that they'd often add more to the glaze than the recipe called for. The alcohol will burn off, but you can also omit the rum glaze and just serve with ice cream.

你可以吃arroz鸡丝、加勒比海种社会lty, fast or slow. For weeknights, go with the stripped-down variation. But when you have a little time—and you don’t need much—make the full-chicken stock for extra flavor, and saffron for best color and complexity. If you don’t have stock, don’t worry too much. Since the chicken and vegetables are cooking in the liquid, the dish will taste good even if you make it with water. A few slices of tomatoes would go well here, or any salad you like. You don’t need much to round out this meal.

This soupy rice and chicken stew is a cousin to Arroz con Pollo and Paella (pages 293 and 520), but it’s much looser, and you must eat it right away; otherwise, the rice will absorb too much of the liquid and the stew will lose its soupy texture. For the ham, it’s best to buy a thick slice and cut it into chunks; you don’t want shreds of thinly sliced ham. Very lean bacon or a piece of smoked pork will work nicely too. Some ideas for varying this dish: Don’t add the chopped tomatoes, but put them in the bottom of each bowl before adding the soup; garnish with chopped fresh avocado; add fresh lime juice, onion, or chopped fresh cilantro leaves to taste, just before serving; or serve with chopped chiles in adobo (from a can) or Tomato-Chipotle Salsa (page 611).

An international dish if ever there was one (the Philippine version is quite similar and you can find others around the globe) and one that can be spiced with as little as a rub of garlic, salt, and pepper or a little more elaborately, as is this one. Use a bone-in loin cut, from the rib (shoulder) end, or simply a boneless shoulder (picnic or butt) roast. This is the pork that is best used for Sandwich Cubano (page 363).

A fairly complicated, lasagnelike dish and, like lasagne, perfectly homey. With advance preparation (you can make the sauce a day ahead and sauté the plantains several hours ahead), you can throw this together quickly, but even if you do it all at once you can make quick work of it. Great with a salad, this needs nothing else. Other meat you can use here: ground turkey, chicken, veal, or pork.

A staple of Puerto Rico, this fried plaintain mash can be served with a simple salad or rice and beans.

Barely a day goes by at the Puerto Rican table without rice and beans making an appearance, but this version is pull-out-the-stops-special rather than everyday—you won't believe how much flavor can be packed into such an understated dish. The secret is an abundantly seasoned sofrito—the flavor base—and the slight crust, called pegao, that forms on the bottom of the pot.

These irresistible nuggets, a specialty of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, are here made with boneless chicken instead of the usual chicken-on-the-bone.

The exquisitely fragrant beefy filling in our take on these classic Central and South American pastries draws on a number of influences—Chilean, Puerto Rican, and Argentinean. Traditionally eaten as street food, empanadas are ideal for snacking on the go but are just as satisfying to sit down to for a simple dinner.

Often found at shacks on the beach in Puerto Rico, this full-flavored crab dish is served in the shell, or with rice and green bananas or plantains. A defining element of the dish issofrito,a traditional Spanish sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, cilantro, and hot pepper.

Asopao de PolloAngel Rodriguez of New York, New York, writes: "My family in Puerto Rico used to make thisasopaofor special occasions or when we needed something to eat while fishing by the river. This dish is made withsofrito, a flavor base in Latin American cooking.

Long before smoothies swept our nation, Puerto Rico and Cuba were whipping up their own fruit shakes, known asbatidos.