Arroz ala Cubana sounds so complicated and elegant but this dish actually has humble beginnings. It definitely is Spanish in origin but some countries have their own variations. The identifying ingredients are rice, egg and plantain. That’s how it’s done in South America. Spain adds tomatoes and tomato sauce on theirs while in the Philippines, the addition of ground beef sets it apart from the others. Ours is definitely the best version (in my opinion)!
Like I said, this is quite easy to make. Just fry the egg and sliced plantains, followed by a simple stir fry and you’re done. Once assembled, the final look is so elegant and worthy of its fancy-sounding name.
Arroz Ala Cubana (Filipino)
A simple rice dish that’s Spanish in origin consisting of rice, egg, plantain and stir fried ground beef. It’s flavorful, very easy to put together and presents very well.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ cup green peas
- ¼ cup raisins
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Sliced fried plantains for serving
- Fried eggs sunny side up (for serving)
Instructions
- Saute onion in oil then add the garlic. Add beef, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink and meat juice has almost evaporated, about 5 mins.
- Stir in tomato paste and soy sauce. Continue cooking until liquid has evaporated. Add green peas and raisins. Cook for 2 mins. Season with salt and ground black pepper, if needed.
- Serve with fried plantains on the side and sunny side up egg on top of a mound of rice,
