cookup Archives | CaribbeanPot.com

Like Pelau, cook-up rice is another iconic comforting one-pot dish to come out of the Caribbean. And YES, as you move up and down the chain of islands, you’ll find variations of this dish. Our mom would do this dish with salted beef or pig’s tail, but you can do I as did and add a combination of your fav meats. I used canned coconut milk (convenience), however if you have access to freshly made coconut milk.. you’ll want to use that!

You’ll Need…

4-5 lbs chicken (cut into serving size pieces)
2 lbs salted pigtail (2 inch pieces)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 medium onion (diced)
5 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 carrot (cut into rings)
2 cups diced pumpkin
3 scallions (chopped)
5 sprigs thyme | 1 Can Black Eyed Peas
1/2 teaspoon smoked pimenton (smoked paprika)
1-2 tablespoon tomato paste concentrate
2 cups coconut milk
2+1 cups water + 1 chicken stock cube (adjust if necessary)
2 1/2 cups long grain brown par-boiled rice
3-5 pimento peppers (sliced)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
8-12 taro (dasheen) leaves

Pre-boil the salted pig tails to make them a bit more tender and to remove most of the salt. (cover with water, bring to a boil. cook for 35 minutes, drain, rinse and cool)

Place the chicken (I used dark meat – leg and thigh) and the pig’s tail in a large bowl, then add the Caribbean Green Seasoning, salt and black pepper. Mix well and set it aside.

Get your big soup pot out as this will yield a lot of food (the remains can be frozen and reheated easily).. I went with a heavy iron pot. On a medium flame, add the olive oil (feel free to use coconut oil if you prefer), then onion, scallion, fresh thyme, garlic and scotch bonnet pepper. Remember to wash your hands with soap and water after handling such hot peppers. Use as much of that scotch bonnet as you can handle.

Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Now add the tomato paste (non traditional) and smoked paprika and stir well (I explain why in the video below).

Heat up to medium now, then go in with the seasoned meats… the marinade too! Mix well to coat the pieces of meat with everything.

Five minutes later add the black eye peas (from a can, so I rinsed it first), pumpkin and carrot. Stir well. Then add the coconut milk and 2 cups water + chicken stock cube. Bring to a boil.

Allow it to cook on a rolling boil (reduce the heat) for about 15 minutes.

As this happens, prepare the taro leaves (use spinach if you cannot source dasheen (taro) leaves). Watch the video below to see how this is done.

Add the chopped dasheen leaves to the pot and give it a good mix. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the pimento peppers now, if you can source it and grate in the ginger. Cook for 5 minutes, then it’s time to add the rice.

Wash the rice, then into the pot. Turn the heat up, add the additional cup of water and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Adjust the water later if needed (add more).

Watch the video for my tip on getting this dish more creamy and additional ingredients you can add for a more spectacular cook-up rice.

25 minutes after adding the rice and you can now personalize things. Taste and adjust the salt to your liking, continue cooking if you want it more soft or turn off the stove as I did as I knew that the residual heat of this iron pot would finish off things for me.

I closed the pot, and allowed it to sit for 15 minutes before I went in for a feast!

Serve warm with sliced tomato, cucumber and a THICK slice of zabouca (avocado) and one must NOT forget the peppersauce. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Meat & Poultry

Curry Chicken Pelau.

May 27, 2025April 21, 201612 Comments

We were into hour 5 of the long drive to Connecticut from Toronto to watch the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors take on the US men’s national team in a world Cup qualifying game. My friend who was the designated driver for the trip, asked if I had ever done a curry chicken pelau. The next hour or so we found ourselves engrossed in the possibility of such a recipe and why we thought it was a delicious idea. Though neither of us had tried it before, in our minds it was doable.This curry chicken pelau is a tribute to that trip and the way we dissected the (possible) recipe.

You’ll Need…

2 boneless/skinless chicken breast (1.5-2 lbs)
1 tablespoon Caribbean Green seasoning
2 scallions (chopped)
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
1 med tomato (diced)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 tablespoon salt (adjust)
1/4 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
2 tablespoon curry powder (divided)
2 tablespoon veg oil
1 can coconut milk (abt 1.5 cups)
2 cups water
2 cups parboiled brown rice (washed)
1 can pigeon peas (drained/rinsed)
1 carrot
4 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

* adjust liquid as necessary – since different brands of rice tend to differ in cooking time.

Cube the chicken into 3/4 inch pieces and season with the Caribbean Green Seasoning, black pepper, salt, scallions, Garam Masala, 1/4 of the curry powder, ketchup, scotch bonnet pepper and tomato. Remember to wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling such hot peppers. Stir well and allow to marinate for a couple hours in the fridge.

Heat the veg oil on a medium flame, then go in with the chopped garlic and onion, turn the heat down to LOW and gently cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add the remaining curry powder (heat still on low) and cook for another 4 mins. This will allow us to bring out the flavors of all the spices which make up the curry powder.

Turn the heat up to high now and add the seasoned chicken and stir well… try to pick up all the curry-goodness at the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat to med, cover and let it cook for about 4-5 minutes. It will spring it’s own juices.

Remove the lid and crank up the heat to burn off all that liquid and infuse the chicken pieces with the curry base. Now add the diced carrot and pigeon peas. Stir well.

In the same bowl you marinated the chicken swish around the water to pick up any remaining marinade.. pour into the pot now. Along with the coconut milk. Wash the rice (to remove grit and extra starch), drain and ad it to the pot. To wash the rice you have two options as we’ve discussed before. 1. Place in a bowl, add water and using your hands massage. the water will turn white… drain. repeat until the water runs relatively clear. Option 2. Place in a strainer and run water over the rice.. Massage with your fingers. When the water runs clear, the rice is washed.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, have the lid slightly ajar and cook until tender and all the liquid is gone. About 25 minutes. Here is where you personalize things a bit near the end. I like my pelau a bit grainy so that liquid was enough for the way I wanted it. Add more water if you want it more ‘soggy” (wet pelau) and be sure to taste for salt and adjust accordingly. As I turn the heat off I topped it with the chopped cilantro.

Tip: To avoid having dry pieces of chicken I would recommend using chicken thighs. This is NOT traditional pelau.. had to make that clear as I know this post/recipe will only encourage the ‘hate’ comments. This is a fusion of curry chicken and rice using a technique similar to make chicken pelau… except we didn’t ‘stew’ the chicken as would normally be done. Serve warm!

Spinach Rice Simmered In Coconut Milk And Salted Pigtail.

May 27, 2025October 26, 201317 Comments

To avoid the “check yourself emails” let me make my Trinbagonian people happy and say “bhagi rice” instead for spinach. Now on to a recipe which I try to make on those cold winter days when I crave the bright Caribbean sun and long for the days when I can be back down in my little piece of heaven The Caribbean. This is as good as it gets when it comes to comfort food for me. Though I’d much prefer to use dasheen bush bhagi, it’s easier to grow (short summers here) and easy to access (in grocery stores) Jamaican callaloo (chorai bhagi) so that will be the ‘spinach’ I’ll be using today.

You’ll Need…

2 cups chopped Jamaican callaloo
3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
1 scotch bonnet pepper
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon celery leaves
1 tablespoon chopped shado beni (optional)
1 scallion
2 seasoning peppers (pimento peppers)
2 cups brown rice (parboiled long grain)
tablespoon olive oil (veg oil or butter)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
2 cups water (or stock)
1 lb salted pig’s tail

* No salt as pigtail should have enough salt remaining, but do taste near the end and adjust to your liking. Important: Please go through the ingredient list if making this recipe gluten free to ensure it meets with your specific gluten free dietary needs.

Start by cutting the salted pigtail into 1 inch pieces. Use a heavy Chinese cleaver or ask your butcher to cut them for you. Rinse off, then place in a deep pot with water (cover) and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a rolling boil and let it cook for about 45- 55 minutes. The goal is to get the pieces tender and to remove most of the salt it was cured in.Drain, rinse with cool water and set aside.

As the oil heats in a deep saucepan (med heat), chop the onion, celery, scallion, garlic, seasoning peppers and shado beni (chadon beni or culantro. you can substitute cilantro).

Add all the chopped ingredients to the heated oil and reduce the heat to low. Let that gently cook for about 3 minutes. It’s all about flavor! In the meantime, wash, trim and cut the Jamaican callaloo into 1/4 inch ribbons. Basically take the leaves, roll into a large cigar and cut across the length of them.

Add the pieces of pre-cooked salted pig tails and give it a good stir. Let that cook for about 3 minutes. Then start adding the chopped callaloo (chorai bhagi) and stir well.

Wash the rice to remove any grit (place in a bowl with water and massage with your hands, drain and repeat until the water runs clear or place in a strainer under running water and massages until the water runs clear) then add it to the pot. Now add all the other ingredients into the pot and bring to a boil.

You’ll notice that I placed the scotch bonnet pepper whole in the pot. This will allow me to get a lot of flavor without the raw heat. If you’re into the hot-stuff, near the end you can burst that pepper open and deal with the heat. Remember to remove it from the pot when your done and DO NOT break it when stirring the pot.When the pot comes to a boil, reduce the heat so you have a gentle bubble going and cover the pot. The idea is to let this slowly cook, until all the liquid is gone and you have plump grains of rice flavored with the coconut milk, salted pigtails and herbs.

It will take between 20 and 25 minutes after putting the rice in for the dish to be fully cooked, but it depends a lot on the brand of rice you use. If you find the liquid is burning off too fast, place on a smaller burner and simmer. If after the rice is fully cooked you find that it’s a bit runny, turn up the heat to burn off and excess liquid. But do keep stirring as the high heat will cause the natural sugars in the coconut milk to burn and the rice will stick to the bottom of the pot.

Turn off the heat and keep the lid on the pot for about 5 minutes before serving.. According to my mom, this will cause the rice to ‘yield’ nicely.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

cookup

Black-eyed Peas Cook-up Rice.

Curry Chicken Pelau.

Spinach Rice Simmered In Coconut Milk And Salted Pigtail.

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