- Where's my laptop?
- I don't know.
- If you want me to drive you, we gotta go now.
- No, dad. No, no, I'll walk.
- Personal chauffeur going once.
- It's okay.
(speaking Spanish)
- Miles! You gotta go! - In a minute.
- Let's go! - In a minute.
- Mom, I gotta go.
- In a minute!
- Hey, what's up guys.
Welcome back to Binging with Babish with a scoop.
We're taking its less than one second appearance
in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
to make arroz con pollo.
I was obviously super stoked to see it this past weekend
and spot some food, which I'll be recreating
when the movie comes out on streaming,
so that we don't have to try to take a video
in a movie theater.
Anyway, arroz con pollo begins with sofrito, which,
as Omi Hopper taught me is an intuition guided combination
of a few specific aromatics.
One small yellow onion, one Cubanelle and green pepper.
Both cut down to food processor appropriate chunks
because that's where they're headed,
along with a not insignificant amount of garlic.
I'm going with six cloves cut in half,
and if you can get ahold of them,
three to four Ají dulce peppers,
which look like scotch bonnets, but are in fact not spicy.
We're also adding about three quarters of a cup of culantro
and a cup of cilantro, both of which taste like death to me.
But luckily that enzyme gets deactivated
or whatever when it gets cooked.
Anyway, we're processing this into like a chunky paste,
scraping down the sides of the food processor
if you overstuffed it like I did.
This stuff freezes beautifully,
especially in ice cube trays for pre-portioned dispatch.
But for today,
we're only gonna need about a third of a cup of it.
Next up, a whole half of our dish's namesake: chicken.
I'm going with thighs and drumsticks,
of which I'm removing the skin.
Definitely not the most authentic move
but I don't like flabby skin.
Now especially for stewed meats,
best practice is to lightly salt and let it sit
at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
And we're getting these guys started first,
by searing in a quarter cup
of neutral flavored oil like vegetable or corn.
Dropping them into a preheated Dutch oven
and searing them in batches if necessary,
until they're lightly golden brown
and a beautiful fond is formed in the bottom of the pot.
Which we're gonna start scraping up
by virtue of a small half onion, diced,
and a solid third of a cup of our sofrito,
both of which released moisture as they cook,
helping you scrape all the flavorful stuff
off the bottom of the pot.
Next up, we're briefly toasting the spices.
Two teaspoons sazon with achiote,
a cube of chicken bouillon, half teaspoon dried oregano,
and a quarter cup chopped pimento peppers.
We're just giving that like 30 seconds of heat
before adding a half cup of pitted green olives
and the other half of the name, the rice.
Two and a half cups of thoroughly washed medium
or long grain white rice.
Which, likewise we're gonna toast for about 30 seconds
before adding the wet stuff.
Half a cup of plain canned tomato sauce,
and three to three and a half cups of water.
But that could vary depending on your rice.
You should check the package and use that proportion.
Next and last, we're adding the chicken
and its accumulated juices, and one solitary bay leaf.
Give things a little stir to ensure even distribution,
and then it's time to shut this guy down.
We're making our Dutch oven steamtight
by wrapping the lid in aluminum foil.
And once we're back up to a simmer, locking things up tight
and cooking your rice to about 80% doneness,
usually 10 to 12 minutes.
At this point, we're giving things a gentle stir,
testing the rice for doneness,
adding a splash of water if things seem a little dry,
shutting back down and cooking to a state of completion,
anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.
Make sure that your rice is properly cooked
but slightly toothsome.
Season to taste with kosher salt
and freshly ground black pepper.
We're doing this last
because some of those seasonings already have salt in them.
And that's all there is to it.
Serve it up on a big old platter with some lime slices
and garnish with big leafy cilantro
that can easily picked off by your more averse diners.
And there you have it, arroz con pollo.
As essential a Latin American dishes as ever there was,
and on the table in about an hour.
And while this ended up being delicious
and well spiced and comforting,
I started to wonder if this was the actual dish
that he was eating in Spider-verse.
Then after doing some research,
and seeing that Miles' mom is Puerto Rican,
and that the national dish of Puerto Rico
is arroz con gandules, it seemed like the ham
and pigeon pea version of this dish might be more accurate.
We're starting with the same quarter cup of oil,
but this time browning up some cubed country ham
or smoked pork shoulder until it and the bottom of the pot
have both picked up a little bit of color.
Next up, of course, is our third cup of sofrito
and maybe a half a cup. Why not?
Which likewise, we're gonna sauté and use to help scrape up
that stuff off the bottom of the pot.
Half cup green olives, quarter cup chopped pimentos,
and an optional tablespoon of capers are headed in next,
followed by one and a half teaspoons of sazon with achiote.
Three quarters of a teaspoon adobo,
and if you can find it,
one teaspoon of ham concentrate powder,
which is as fun to say as it is to cook with.
Then we're adding our thoroughly washed rice,
giving it a quick toast, our half cup tomato sauce,
and this time, a 15 ounce can of gandules.
I'm going with green ones,
including their liquid in the can.
Nobody gets left behind.
Give that a stir, bring it back up to a simmer,
and then from here on out,
it's pretty much the same procedures as before.
Add your cooking water
or chicken stock if you want flavored bonus points.
One bay leaf and then shut things down
for its two-stage cooking process.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add another splash of water if necessary
and cook to a state of doneness.
Plate it up this time in a much smoother sculpted pile,
for some reason.
Garnish with limes on the side
because you didn't like the way it looked before.
Sprinkle with cilantro.
And there you have it, arroz con gandules.
Which I think looks a little bit more accurate
and I think I actually liked it better.
That ham concentrate powder is something else.
Anyway, I was obviously overjoyed to finally see
Across the Spider-verse,
but until I can go back and see it again,
this'll tide me over.
That and rewatching the first one, another 50 times.
(outro music)