Rice cooked with ochro (okra), salted pigtails and coconut milk: a soft, savoury one-pot rice that is everyday food in Trinidad. Salt fish works just as well.
Ochro rice is everyday cooking: rice, ochro and a little salted meat simmered in coconut milk until the rice is soft and moist and the ochro has melted into it. Pigtails are the classic choice; salt fish is the usual alternative, and the substitutions explain how to swap it in.
Ochro gives off a silky slime as it cooks, which is what makes the rice so moist. If you prefer less of it, fry the sliced ochro in a hot pot for a few minutes first, as in this recipe, until the threads cook away.
As with any dish made with salted meat, boil the pigtails in fresh water first and taste before you add any salt to the pot.
The recipe
Ochro Rice with Pigtails
Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 15 min
Total
1 hr 35 min
Serves
6
Times and quantities are our best estimates. This recipe is still being kitchen-tested, so trust your eyes and taste as you go.
Servings
Ingredient amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pot size may need adjusting too.
Ingredients
Tick items off as you gather them.
For the pigtails
For the pot
Method
Take the salt out of the pigtails
Put the pigtails in a pot, cover with water and boil for 15 minutes. Drain.
Cover with fresh water and boil for another 20 to 25 minutes. Taste a small piece: if it is still very salty, boil once more in fresh water. Drain.
Fry the ochro
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the ochro and cook, stirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes until the sticky threads have cooked away and the edges are lightly browned. Tip it onto a plate.
Cook the rice
Turn the heat to medium and add the rest of the oil. Cook the onion, garlic and pimento peppers for 3 minutes until soft.
Add the tomato and green seasoning and cook for 2 minutes. Add the pigtails and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in the rice until every grain is coated, then return the ochro to the pot.
Pour in the coconut milk and water and add the thyme and the whole pepper. The liquid should sit about ½ inch (1 cm) above the rice; add a little more water if it doesn't. Taste the liquid and add salt only if it needs it.
Bring to a boil, then cover tightly, turn the heat to low and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Check at 20 minutes and add a splash of water if the bottom is catching before the rice is tender.
When the rice is tender, lift out the thyme stems and the pepper without bursting it. Season with black pepper, stir in the chadon beni, cover and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Serve it with
Fried or stewed fish, or stewed chicken
Cucumber salad, avocado (zaboca) or coleslaw
Pepper sauce at the table
Substitutions
Salt fish instead of pigtails: soak 8 oz (225 g) boneless salt fish in cold water for a few hours, or boil it for 10 minutes and drain. Taste, and repeat if it is still very salty. Flake it, skip the pigtail steps, and stir it in with the tomato.
Ochro: frozen sliced okra works; fry it from frozen for a few extra minutes.
Pimento peppers: use a little chopped sweet pepper.
Storing and reheating
Cool quickly and refrigerate in a covered container; eat within 3 days.
Reheat covered with a splash of water until piping hot all the way through.
Cook's notes
Pick small, firm ochro that snap cleanly; large ones are woody.
Some cooks add a cup of diced pumpkin with the rice for sweetness and colour.
Rice cooked with bhagi greens, salted pigtails and coconut milk until soft, green and full of flavour. Salt fish or salt beef can take the pigtails' place.
