Cookbook:Locrio (Dominican Chicken and Rice)

A locrio is a common Dominican dish similar to paella. Like paella, there are many variations. The main point is to have a little tomato sauce/paste for coloring, and some caramelized sugar. In that way it is similar to the Trinidadian pilau. Like paella, the rice at the bottom should be toasted or browned, but not burnt. This browned rice is called "concon". You're not considered a good cook until you can do this.

Ingredients

 * ¼ cup oil for frying
 * 1 tbsp sugar
 * 4 lbs (1.8 kg) chicken, cut in pieces
 * ½ cup olives (pitted) or capers
 * 2 tbsp oil, for when rice is almost done
 * ½ cup finely diced celery
 * ½ cup finely diced onion
 * 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
 * 4 cups rice
 * 5¼ cups chicken stock or water
 * ¼ cup tomato paste
 * 1 tsp salt or to taste
 * 1 tsp thyme
 * ½ tsp oregano (optional)
 * 1 tsp ground black pepper

Stovetop method

 * 1) Heat the ¼ cup oil in a pot over high heat.
 * 2) Add the sugar to the pot. Let it melt and caramelize, turning light brown. Pay close attention and don't let the sugar burn. Do not use plastic utensils to stir the sugar, since it will be at around 350°F (175°C).
 * 3) Add the meat to the caramel and let it brown on all sides. Remove and reserve the meat.
 * 4) Add the garlic, onions, and celery to the pot. Fry.
 * 5) Add rice and cooked meat to pot with the vegetables. Whisk together chicken stock and tomato paste until smooth, then stir it into the rice mixture. Stir in the salt, pepper, thyme, and olives.
 * 6) Check the seasoning. If the salt level is good, add an extra ½ tsp of salt. This is because the rice will absorb some of the salt, and it will come out a bit flat in the end unless you add extra salt.
 * 7) Bring to a boil over high heat. Let it boil, stirring occasionally, until the water is absorbed. The high heat is needed to bring the rice temperature up so that it cooks. If you lower the flame at this point, the rice might not cook all the way.
 * 8) Cover, lower the heat, and let it cook for 15 minutes.
 * 9) Uncover, sprinkle 2 Tbsp oil on top, and stir so that the uncooked rice on top goes to the bottom. Cook for another 5 minutes.
 * 10) If rice still not cooked, give it another stir and cook for another 5 minutes. Sometimes you may need more time; see notes below.
 * 11) Turn heat on high for a couple of minutes to brown and toast the rice on bottom. Sometimes it does this by itself during the main cooking so you don't have to do this. Experience will tell.
 * 12) Serve.

Oven method

 * 1) Preheat oven to 350°F (125°C).
 * 2) Proceed with the recipe as above, using an oven-proof pot, until the rice absorbs all the liquid. Once this happens, cover the pot, put it in the oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
 * 3) Add 2 tbsp oil, and stir so the uncooked rice is on the bottom and the bottom rice is on the top. Bake for another 20 minutes.
 * 4) Stir. If it is still not fully cooked, bake another 20 minutes.
 * 5) Serve.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * If the rice doesn't cook but all the water was absorbed, you can separate the rice from the meat, put it in a bowl, and give it 5 minutes on high in the microwave. Often there wasn't enough heat to cook the rice. On some stoves, once covered (as mentioned above), you may have to cook 20 minutes, add oil, stir, and cook another 20–40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
 * It is also helpful to put a sheet or two of aluminium foil over the pot before putting the lid on. That helps seal the lid and keep the heat/steam from escaping, and the rice often comes out better.
 * Dominicans tend to cook the rice on the dry side—the rice will be cooked through, but not too watery. The ratio should be 4 cups rice to 5½ cups liquid (some locrio recipes ask for 7–8 cups of liquid, which makes things mushy). If you have tomato sauce instead of tomato paste, you can use that also, as long as the ratios are the same (e.g. 1 cup tomato sauce to 4½ cups water/stock; which makes a total of 5½ cups liquid). If you halve the recipe, the ratio rice to liquid will be 2 cups rice to 2¾ cups liquid.
 * Some people deep fry the meat separately, remove the excess oil, and then caramelize the sugar.
 * The ingredients of the sofrito vary, and can be made in advance. Some add cilantro, bell peppers, culantro, and other aromatics to it.
 * Other vegetables such as 1 cup of cubed auyama squash are sometimes added with the rice.
 * You can also substitute guineafowl, rabbit, Dominican salami, pork chops, or other meat for the chicken. Almost any meat can be used, including cubed ham or spam, arrenque (smoked dried herring, pre-soaked in warm water to remove some salt, but cut the amount of salt you use), canned sardines, Vienna sausages, shellfish (mariscos) and if in desperation, ground beef, meatballs, hot dogs, etc. can also be used. You can use 2 lbs of chicken gizzards also, but gizzards need to be boiled (or pressure cooked) until tender first.
 * Some people use Sazón Completo for the seasoning. Although it is not authentic, you can also add 1 tsp ajinomoto (味の素), which is similar.
 * You can take the skin off the chicken before frying it.
 * Instead of chicken stock, some people throw in a stock cube.