On Sun, 14 Feb 2016 11:10:31 -0800, sf > wrote:

>On Sun, 14 Feb 2016 05:46:24 -0700, Janet B >
>wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 21:42:26 -0800 (PST), Timo
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >On Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 3:15:30 PM UTC+10, Janet B wrote:
>> >> On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 20:24:39 -0800 (PST), Timo wrote:
>> >> >On Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 4:01:27 AM UTC+10, Janet B wrote:
>> >> >> I was curious, so . . .
>> >> >>
>> >> >> According the Wikipedia, Spanish Rice is unknown in Spain. In the US,
>> >> >> the dish is referred to interchangeably as Mexican Rice or Spanish
>> >> >> Rice.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> According to Martha Stewart, it is a 'pilaf-style' dish. Meaning that
>> >> >> the rice is browned/coated in a hot fat before the liquid is added.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I found no indications that Mexican Rice ever contains meat.
>> >> >
>> >> >Diana Kennedy lists meat (chopped chicken giblets) as an optional ingredient.
>> >[...]
>> >> >I saw a Spanish recipe (Catalan?), "paella with vegetables", with very similar ingredients to Mexican rice (and with tomatoes, no saffron). The difference was in the method: instead of frying the rice, the liquid is added, and then the rice.
>> >>
>> >> I've seen her recipe. I've always found it interesting that she soaks
>> >> the rice in hot water before toasting the rice in hot oil.
>> >
>> >I've seen both soaking and using the rice dry in Indian, Iranian, and Central Asian pilaf recipes (don't remember Turkish and further west off-hand).
>> >
>> >> The directions that I have seen for making a paella still instruct to
>> >> coat the rice with the hot oil before adding the liquid. Vegetables
>> >> may be cooked in the oil before the rice ( onions, peppers etc.) in
>> >> order to be sure that they are fully cooked in the final dish. Mexican
>> >> rice is quite different than Paella. To me, the difference is like a
>> >> baked potato. Mexican rice is very plain, Paella is fully loaded.
>> >
>> >That's why I though this paella recipe was unusual. (I've seen both fry the rice and add the liquid then rice for rice and beans.) Here's the recipe:
>> >
>> >2 onions, 3 leeks (white parts), 4 tomatoes, 6 artichoke hearts, 3 red peppers, 1/2 head cauliflower, 3oz frozen peas, 2 pints chicken/vegetable stock, 4 cloves garlic, 2 sprigs parsley, 1lb rice.
>> >
>> >Make a sofregit/sofrito of the onion, leek, tomato (i.e., fry them in oil). Add artichoke hearts and peppers, cauliflower, peas, 1/4 of the stock.
>> >Simmer for 10 minutes, and add garlic and parsley, and the rest of the stock.
>> >Add the rice, and cook without stirring until rice is cooked and liquid is evaporated.
>> >
>> >Less chunky than many paellas, but still more in it than the usual Mexican rice.
>> >
>> >Me, I look at Mexican rice and paella as two extreme ends of the pilaf family. When you can arrange pilafs with some even simpler than Mexican rice at one end, going through various pilafs getting more and more loaded, to full-on chicken and seafood paella at the other end, it highlights what the family has in common. Without the ones in the middle, linking the two ends, the ends lose that family resemblance, and only the difference is visible.
>>
>> exactly.
>> Janet US
>
>I think of Mexican rice as some concocted version from the '50s that
>had canned tomatoes and hamburger in it. The restaurant Mexican rice
>I've always liked is yellow and has nothing in it. It's just a side.

yes, that restaurant version is Mexican rice.
Janet US