I used to be standing in my new Bronx kitchen, going through a fridge of forgotten jars crammed with do-it-yourself sofrito, a housewarming present from my mom to kick-start my dinners. As I cracked open the lids, the herbaceous aroma I knew so effectively—the one which jogged my memory of watching my Abuela stir a pot of coconut rice and peas—had vanished, changed by a bitter odor. I had waited too lengthy.
Sofrito, a beloved staple in Caribbean delicacies, is a vibrant mix of aromatics (like onion and peppers) and herbs (like cilantro and culantro). Cooking it down is a key step in numerous sauces and stews, from sancocho to Dominican spaghetti to pollo guisado. It might even be used as a dip for tostones. The identify “sofrito” applies to the Puerto Rican model of the combination whereas, within the Dominican Republic, it’s known as sazón liquido or just sazón—though I’ve loads of Dominican relations who confer with it as sofrito too. It doesn’t matter what you name it, or what substances you employ, one factor stays fixed: Sofrito is the very first thing to bless the pot in kitchens throughout the Caribbean.
However making it each evening may be tiresome, and resorting to the store-bought model is virtually sacrilegious, a minimum of in response to my mom. After my jars went dangerous, I tried to recreate my mom’s sofrito every evening, and the method of chopping, dicing, and mixing earlier than each dinner shortly wore me down. This prompted an aha second: Why not freeze it? Higher but, why not freeze it in ice dice trays for simple portioning?
Whereas within the fridge sofrito will solely final a couple of week, within the freezer it’s going to final for weeks, even months. This implies I can get the prep work carried out on a Sunday afternoon, then repeat the rewards time and again. No extra wasted substances. No extra wasted time.
On a busy weeknight, all I’ve to do is come out just a few cubes, and I’m effectively on my technique to an ideal pot of arroz con pollo or a savory bistec encebollado. There’s no must thaw—simply take a dice or two, relying on the scale of the dish, and add it to a pan of sizzling oil.
Whereas sofrito and sazón recipes range from family to family, right here’s my go-to methodology:
Take away the stems, ribs, and seeds from 1 inexperienced bell pepper, 1 pink bell pepper, and 1 cubanelle pepper, then roughly chop and add to a meals processor. Roughly chop 1 pink onion, 10 garlic cloves, 1 bunch cilantro (together with stems), and 1 bunch culantro (should you can’t discover it, you possibly can omit it) and add all that to the meals processor too, together with 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil and ¼ tsp. kosher salt. Mix till the combination is finely chopped. Modify the salt to style. Divide into ice dice trays and freeze.
