Pasteles de Arroz (Rice Pasteles)

4.41 from 5 votes

Love traditional Puerto Rican Pasteles? Then you will love these Pasteles de Arroz (Rice Pasteles)! These are just so delicious and the flavor will remind you so much of traditional Puerto Rican Pasteles! Perfect for the holidays!

Prep Time2

Cook Time1 30

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Puerto Rican

Servings: pasteles

Calories: 77kcal

Author: Catherine Arena

Ingredients

Pork Filling

3 pounds pork shoulder, boston butt, or boneless ribs rinsed and cut into ½ inch cubes
3 tablespoons Puerto Rican sofrito
6 cloves garlic mashed and chopped
1 tablespoon garlic powder
½ tablespoon oregano
½ tablespoon cumin
1 packet sazon with annatto found in Latin section of supermarket
⅓ cup tomato sauce
salt to taste
2 cups water
½ cup vinegar
handful fresh cilantro rinse and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons annatto oil/achiote oil
3 tablespoons pimiento stuffed olives optional
⅓ cup garbanzo beans optional
3 tablespoons roasted pimiento peppers optional

Rice Plantain Masa

2 cups medium or long grain rice rinsed
1½-2 green plantains peeled and grated
2 tablespoons annatto oil/achiote oil
1½ cups broth from stewed pork

Other Ingredients

hot sauce and ketchup for serving

Materials Needed

1 package fresh or frozen plantain leaves
pasteles paper or parchment paper
twine
grater

Instructions

Pork Filling

Season pork. Add the pork to a mixing bowl and sprinkle the pork pieces with adobo and garlic powder.
Oil. In a caldero or other large pot, add the achiote oil and heat over medium heat. Add the pork, stir and cook for a few minutes.
Add all seasonings. Add the seasonings, olives, garbanzo beans, tomato sauce, pimiento peppers and 2 cups of water. Stir, cover the pot partially with lid and cook for 40 minutes (stirring again in between cooking).
Cilantro. After 40 minutes, add in the cilantro, cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the pork is fork tender and saucy. Taste for seasoning, add additional salt if needed. Set aside until ready to use.

Rice and Plantain Masa

Rice. Using a colander, rinse the rice under cool water until the water runs clear. Add the rice to a bowl and presoak for 2 hours. After 2 hours, add 2 tablespoons of achiote oil and stir. The oil will color the rice.
Grate plantains. Using a grater, grate plantains using the finest side to puree plantain.
Drain. After the rice has soaked, drain the water. Add 1½ cups of broth from the stewed pork and stir. Add the grated plantain puree and stir it into rice. Allow the rice to continue soaking until you're ready to use.
Note: Your rice plantain masa will be somewhat thick.

Prepare Plantain Leaves

Cut plantain leaves. Remove plantain leaves from package and cut 30 pieces into 6×8 inch pieces. Using scissors, cut the rough rib off.
Clean leaves. Rinse the leaves under warm water. Wipe both sides of the leaves with a clean damp kitchen towel or paper towels.
Wilt leaves. Turn on your stove to low heat. Take one leaf at a time and pass leaf over burner on both sides to wilt and make the leaves more manageable. Set aside.

Butchers Twine

Cut 30 pieces of twine. Each piece measuring about 3 feet.

Assembling

Set up your station: rice, pork filling, paper, plantain leaves and twine side by side.
Assembling. Lay one sheet of pasteles paper on a flat surface and then place a banana leaf in the center. Spread a teaspoon of the achiote oil or a teaspoon of the pork broth to the center of the leaf.
Masa and filling. Scoop ½ cup of the masa onto the center of the banana leaf and spread lengthwise. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the pork filling. Top the meat with additional olives and pimiento strips.

Wrapping the Pasteles

Bring the paper and plantain leaf over mixture and continue rolling over to fully enclose mixture snugly.
Fold one side of paper underneath pastel and repeat procedure with the other end. Repeat the entire process again and make the other pasteles.

Stack into Bundles

Once you have all the pasteles formed and wrapped, proceed to stack them into bundles and tie.
Stack two pasteles on top of each other with the folded (tucked) ends touching each other to create a bundle.
Fold twine in half and place underneath pastel to form a hoop. String twine through center of hoop in twine and snug pastel.
Bring the ends over to other sides of pastel and go underneath pastel with twine. Flip pastel over and repeat procedure again.
Note: Do not squeeze pasteles with twine too much as when they cook, the rice will swell up and needs space to fluff.
Finally tie a knot to keep pasteles secure and snug.

Cook or Freeze

Cook or freeze. At this point you can either cook the pasteles right away or you can freeze them for later.

To Cook

Cook. In a medium to large pot, over medium high heat, add enough water to cover pasteles. Bring to a boil.
Salt water. Add the amount of pasteles you want to have and add about a teaspoon of salt to water. Lower heat to medium and cover the pot with a lid. Cook for a minimum 1½-2 hours.

Serving

Serving. When pasteles are cooked, use tongs or a fork to remove pastel bundles from water allowing excess water to drain from pasteles.
Place on a plate. Using scissors, cut twine. Open ends of paper and roll pastel out. Discard paper and either serve pastel on top of plantain leaf or discard.

Notes

Recipe Notes:

Pasteles Paper: If you cannot find ready to use pasteles paper, simply use parchment paper. Cut 30 pieces into 12x16 inch

Note: Traditional pasteles only need 1 hour to cook but I like to cook pasteles de arroz for an additional 30 minutes to guarantee rice is fully soft and extra fluffy.

Nutrition