[0 - 1] - Hi, I'm Saul Montiel.
[1 - 2] I'm a professional chef
[2 - 3] and today I'm gonna teach you how
[3 - 6] to make the base rice beans at home.
[6 - 8] They need to be rich, they need to be thick,
[8 - 9] they need to be full of flavor.
[9 - 12] This is rice, beans, uno, and uno.
[13 - 16] When it comes to rice beans, it's basically the side dish.
[16 - 19] For most of you, Mexican dishes can eat this with mole.
[20 - 21] You can eat this with enchilada.
[21 - 23] It's simple, it's easy, and I'm gonna show you how to do it.
[23 - 27] It's time to make the best part of Mexico, rice and beans.
[27 - 30] [upbeat guitar strumming]
[30 - 32] In front of me, I have two cups of black beans,
[32 - 34] dried beans from scratch can give you a better
[34 - 36] taste, a better texture.
[36 - 38] To me, it's a hundred times better than a can.
[38 - 40] The first step, very important step is to go
[40 - 42] through all the beans to make sure there's no pieces
[42 - 44] of rock, pieces of wood.
[44 - 45] Like any imperfection.
[45 - 46] When I was four or five years old,
[46 - 48] my mom would sit me on the table
[48 - 51] and make me go through all the beans and I will do this.
[51 - 52] You know, like find little imperfect beans.
[52 - 56] Things, we don't want this, [speaking Spanish]
[56 - 58] Okay, so now I'm gonna rinse these beans
[58 - 60] because beans can have a lot of dust.
[60 - 64] Okay, for this recipe, you need 5,642 pieces of black beans.
[64 - 65] No less, no more.
[67 - 69] They look perfect, nice and clean.
[69 - 72] Gonna dump it in here. Now I'm gonna put four cups of water.
[73 - 75] You have to have a lot of water
[75 - 77] because the beans, they're going to get soft overnight.
[77 - 80] So basically the the size they're going to increase.
[80 - 81] If you don't have enough water
[81 - 82] and the beans get uncovered,
[82 - 84] the ones on top that are going to be drier.
[84 - 87] So you have like two different textures. We don't want that.
[87 - 89] Wanna store this dish on the fridge. Let it sit overnight.
[89 - 92] Look at this, the size. See the difference?
[92 - 94] Big bean, baby bean.
[94 - 97] Now I'm gonna drain the beans and give a little rinse.
[97 - 99] Now we're gonna move into cooking the beans.
[99 - 101] [upbeat guitar strumming]
[101 - 104] I'm bringing eight cups of water to a boil.
[104 - 106] Now, when cooking black beans,
[106 - 108] you're gonna make sure they have enough water.
[108 - 110] So now I'm gonna do one and a half onion,
[110 - 112] four cloves of garlic.
[112 - 115] Now I'm want to smash them a little bit halfway.
[115 - 117] You will remove the leaf easier
[117 - 119] and also you will break the flavors
[119 - 121] of the garlic so it will be stronger.
[121 - 123] I added two avocado leaves.
[123 - 125] The reason why I'm using avocado leaves to my beans
[125 - 128] because I want to add an aroma to my beans.
[128 - 129] I want them to taste like Mexico.
[129 - 131] If you don't have an avocado leaves,
[131 - 133] bay leaves will do the work.
[133 - 136] Two bay leaves and four epazote leaves.
[136 - 140] Epazote, it's a bitter green, little mustardy with licorice
[140 - 142] and it makes the beans get a richer flavor.
[142 - 145] If you don't have a epazote, you can use three
[145 - 146] or four stems of cilantro.
[146 - 149] Now the all the aromatics are in, we bring this to a boil.
[149 - 153] Now that you see the vegetables having blast, dancing all
[153 - 155] over the beans, I'm gonna lower the heat,
[155 - 157] simmer for 60 to 90 minutes.
[157 - 159] It depends on your size of the beans.
[159 - 161] When cooking black beans, make sure the beans are,
[161 - 162] have enough water all the time.
[162 - 164] When you simmer the beans, it's very important
[164 - 166] that you stir it once in a while.
[166 - 168] Not a lot, because remember the skin
[168 - 170] of the beans is fragile.
[170 - 171] So my black beans, they've been simmering
[171 - 173] for almost 70 minutes.
[173 - 174] One way to find out if your beans are
[174 - 176] ready, you're just gonna grab one bean.
[176 - 179] If it's easy to smash, that means it's on point.
[179 - 182] I can feel that it's tender. It's meaty enough, it's soft.
[182 - 186] Now we're going to remove the onion, also the leaves.
[186 - 188] Epazote, we don't want this.
[188 - 191] You can find the garlic, remove the garlic. If not, eat it.
[191 - 192] It's okay. It's healthy for you.
[192 - 195] Now what I'm gonna do, what my mom calls [speaking Spanish].
[195 - 196] It's gonna be like an onion sofrito.
[196 - 200] I'm gonna dye some onions, little chop cop. [oil sizzling]
[201 - 202] For my beans, I'm using vegetable oil
[202 - 205] because I don't want to add another level of flavor.
[205 - 207] Sofreir, when you re-fry vegetables
[207 - 209] and then you add more flavor to your beans.
[209 - 212] I'm gonna do salt in here 'cause I don't want brown them.
[212 - 215] Want them to also sweat. The heat is a lower heat.
[215 - 217] Now I'm going to add some of the beans.
[217 - 219] We're not gonna add all the liquid,
[219 - 223] 'cause we want to have rich beans, no watery beans.
[223 - 225] A little bit more salt. We gonna stir.
[225 - 227] Make sure you get the salt everywhere.
[227 - 229] I'm going to leave this simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
[229 - 232] Next, I'm going to be making tomato broth
[232 - 233] for my Mexican rice.
[233 - 236] [upbeat guitar strumming]
[237 - 239] I make the best Mexican rice by using canned tomatoes
[239 - 242] because the tomato is more concentrate, it's more richer.
[242 - 246] Little more on the sweet side. Just gonna dump this here. Cumin.
[246 - 248] I love the flavor of cumin. Put in a quarter of a teaspoon.
[248 - 250] We're gonna do half an onion.
[252 - 253] Two cloves of garlic.
[255 - 256] A little bit of salt.
[256 - 259] That's what it means a little bit for chef. Chicken stock.
[259 - 262] I'm pouring around 14 ounces of chicken stock.
[262 - 263] And now we're gonna puree this.
[263 - 267] We're looking for something between sauce and a broth.
[267 - 269] This is the consistency that we are looking for.
[269 - 270] If this becomes too thick,
[270 - 272] just add a little bit more chicken stock.
[272 - 276] Too loose, just add more tomatoes. My sauce is set.
[276 - 278] Let's time to make some rice. Arroz.
[278 - 281] [upbeat guitar strumming]
[281 - 284] The rice that I'm using from a Mexican rice is long-grain rice.
[284 - 287] First step on making Mexican rice is wash your rice
[287 - 289] to remove all the star out of the rice.
[289 - 291] So you see all this liquid right here.
[291 - 292] That's all the starts from the rice.
[292 - 294] We wanna have a clear water.
[294 - 296] So now I'm gonna do it like three or four times until this,
[296 - 299] the water is nice and clear. See that?
[299 - 301] That what you're looking for. Clear water.
[301 - 303] I'm going to toss the rice to have nice
[303 - 305] and brown, to get like a nutty flavor to the rice.
[305 - 309] I turn the heat to medium heat and I add some canola oil.
[309 - 311] The rice, we're gonna be stirring here
[311 - 312] until it's nice and brown.
[314 - 315] The reason why I'm moving the pot
[315 - 318] and the spoon at the same time is just
[318 - 320] to make sure we toast the rice evenly,
[320 - 321] so everybody gets the same love.
[321 - 324] Normally it will take, I would say, five
[324 - 325] to seven, eight minutes.
[325 - 326] But you know the color is gonna tell you.
[326 - 328] When making this rice,
[328 - 331] you need to keep stirring most the time,
[331 - 332] until the rice is nice and brown.
[333 - 335] This is how it's supposed to look, nice and toasted.
[335 - 336] Now I'm gonna add the tomato.
[336 - 338] Before you add it, let's just mix it.
[338 - 339] I'm not putting all the liquid in,
[339 - 342] 'cause I want to see if it needs more liquid or not.
[342 - 346] It'll stir right here. I want to stir it once and that's it.
[346 - 350] Now that it's simmering low heat, I'm gonna do corn on top.
[350 - 353] Then I'm gonna do fresh green pea, fresh diced carrots,
[353 - 355] and a whole Serrano.
[355 - 357] This just going to add the aroma of the pepper
[357 - 359] and some cilantro.
[359 - 360] Now we're just gonna leave this alone.
[360 - 361] We're not going to touch it.
[361 - 362] We're gonna come back like in
[362 - 365] 12, 20 minutes and see how's it going.
[365 - 366] No stirring, nothing.
[366 - 367] Let's take a look.
[367 - 370] Smells like my grandma's house. Mexico.
[370 - 372] Woo. [twinkly bells chiming]
[372 - 374] Can already tell it's ready.
[374 - 376] Why? Because it's cooked evenly.
[376 - 378] If I mix it now, right?
[378 - 381] It's a bad idea because it's still a little bit wet.
[381 - 383] So you have to let it sit before mixing it in.
[383 - 385] Now I'm just gonna let it cover,
[385 - 387] shut the heat off and let it sit.
[387 - 391] Go get my beans and have a rice beans feast.
[391 - 394] [upbeat guitar strumming]
[394 - 396] Is time to plate.
[396 - 397] Look at this beauty.
[397 - 400] Look how nice and dry this rice is, just perfect.
[400 - 402] Now you just need some moles,
[402 - 403] some [speaking Spanish] tequila.
[403 - 405] The whole family.
[405 - 406] The Serrano is just there just
[406 - 407] in case you need extra heat.
[407 - 413] And now the beans, they look nice, rich, thick, creamy.
[416 - 417] Now I'm gonna garnish the beans
[417 - 419] with a little bit queso fresco.
[419 - 421] Queso fresco is basically is a cow's meal cheese,
[421 - 424] salty, crumbly, fresh, it's delicious.
[424 - 428] And there you have it. The best way to make rice and beans.
[428 - 432] Alright, the best part of the day. Tasting the food.
[432 - 439] I call it quality control. Let's try this separately, right? Mm, mm-mm. Unbelievable.
[439 - 441] It's fluffy, it's full of flavor.
[441 - 442] It tastes just like the rice
[442 - 444] that my mom used to make, even better.
[444 - 445] Mom, you watching this?
[446 - 448] that I love you very much and I hope you are here.
[448 - 449] But in Spanish.
[449 - 450] Now, the beans.
[450 - 452] They need to be rich, thick,
[452 - 454] and they need to be full of flavor
[454 - 459] and this is how it's done. Mm-hmm.
[459 - 460] I mean, I don't know why you choose
[461 - 463] beans from a can over this.
[463 - 465] And now the two together.
[465 - 470] [upbeat Latin music] Mm-hmm. It's delicious.
[470 - 472] Now you can put this into your burrito,
[472 - 473] you can serve this with enchiladas.
[473 - 476] You can serve this with mole. I mean, it makes me happy.
[476 - 479] You know, tasting these flavors just makes anybody happy.