White Rice Is 99% Tastier When Paired With This Puerto Rican Seasoning

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White rice is easily one of the most versatile foods there is, but let's be honest, that's because it's pretty bland by itself. Sure, it makes a great base for other dishes (hello, one pot veggie curry), but if you're looking for a lighter, fresher taste and want the rice to stand out, it's time to spice things up with recaito, also called Puerto Rican sofrito (there are other types of sofrito from around the Caribbean). This earthy-fresh puree is (much like white rice) often used as a base for a wide variety of dishes. When paired together, recaito and rice make for a herbaceous delight that can stand on its own or serve as the perfect side for a wide range of entrees.

Goya makes recaito ready to go in a jar, and chances are good you can find it at your local supermarket. There's also Loisa recaito, but be sure to read labels closely as the brand makes other types of sofrito and the jars all look very similar. Of course, you can also make it yourself if you want to go for a truly fresh experience. Recipes vary, but the main ingredient is culantro (not to be confused with cilantro), a leafy herb with a bold, citrus aroma. This gets finely chopped and pureed along with peppers, onion, and garlic. The amount you mix in with white rice will vary based on how much flavor you want, but it's definitely recommended to finish cooking your rice first before mixing to ensure the texture is right.

When exactly people started flavoring plain white rice with recaito is unclear, but the savory puree has long been a staple of Puerto Rican cuisine. Puerto Rican sofrito is Spanish in origin, and many sources cite the earliest known recipe as being the one found in the 1324 Catalan cookbook, "Libre de Sent Sovi." The aromatic puree was brought to the Caribbean in the 1400s by the Spanish conquistadors where it was adapted to local ingredients and further developed into the modern recaito in combination with Taino and African culinary influences.

The name of the ingredient is perhaps more mysterious than its origins, as there are different stories as to where it comes from and what the name means. The first relies on the herbal base, as another name for culantro is recao. So, in Spanish, recaito would simply mean "little recao." However, the name may also stem from the word recado, which translates to "errand" and would therefore make recaito mean "little errand" or "little order." According to local legend, this stems from the days before refrigeration when people would send others to the market for fresh herbs and produce to make sofrito.

Either way, the name recaito caught on in Puerto Rico and decidedly stuck. Seeing as white rice originated in Asia and went on to become another staple on Puerto Rican dinner tables, you could consider recaito rice the ultimate expression of the island's diverse cultural food heritage.