July 30, 2010

The Dominican seasoning secret

When I visited the beautiful Dominican Republic back in January,
I became a complete fan of their food.
I was raised on lots of authentic Mexican food,
and love rice and beans, and pico de gallo, and everything else...
Someday I want to move to a country where
cilantro and garlic grow like weeds...
But I digress.

I knew from the first bite that there was something
distinctly different, it wasn't chili powder, or cumin.
I spent the entire week trying to figure out what the
amazing combination of flavor came from.

It wasn't until I got home and did some research that
I discovered their secret. Which really isn't a secret.
It's just so common they sometimes forget to mention it...

Being in the midst of Summer,
and an abundance of garden produce,
I thought maybe you'd like to know their secret too.

It's called Sazon.

Sazon is actually the base to most Dominican dishes,
known elsewhere as "Sofrito," Sazon is an all purpose seasoning
made primarily of vegetables.

Ingredients:

- half a bunch of Cilantro

- 1 green, 1 yellow, and 1 red
medium sized Bell Peppers

- 1/2 of a medium sized Red Onion

-10-15 cloves of peeled Garlic

-1/4 C. of Apple Cider Vinegar

-1/4 C. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-Fresh Oregano to taste (not much!)


To make the Sazon,
begin by thoroughly washing all of the vegetables,
then cut them down into sizes that will be manageable
for your blender or food processor.
Put the vinegar, cilantro and olive oil in the blender first,
followed by the remaining ingredients.
Blend.
Add a little water if it's too thick -
you want a nice 'pasty' consistency.

Store your Sazon in a glass container.
This is powerful stuff! If you keep it in a non-glass
container - it will smell like Sazon for a long time...

The Sazon will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month!
I'm hoping that I might be able to can it -
but I'm still researching that...

It tastes especially good on chicken or pork when used as
a marinade sauce (and baked), and tastes absolutely delicious
when used to season rice or beans.
(Keep in mind that you will need to add Salt!)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have...

4 comments:

Jill said...

Wow! Sounds great. I know my sis will want to try that recipe. We are fond of Mexican food, and we eat it at least once a week. This ought to go well with our next Mexican meal.

~Jill

Laura Lee said...

Lol, we've been using that stuff for YEARS. Keep it on hand, you will never need anything else! Haha. Glad you found what you were looking for!

Laura

Robin said...

Thanks for sharing that recipe, it sounds really good.

We are keeping you in our prayers and hoping that you will experience good health and joy in your "relocation".

Much love to you and your family.

Amity said...

Glad you discovered the Dominican secret. I recommend my favorite recipe site--dominicancooking.com, run by a dear friend who also blogs her thrifty, frugal life in Punta Cana! Nice blog...glad I clicked over from Renaissance. :) DR is one of my fave places...and I was homeschooled, too.