Sofrito
A raw aromatic base blended in advance and kept on hand to start almost any stew: sweet aji peppers, onion, garlic, bell pepper and culantro. It is not the Spanish sofrito cooked in a pan. Here it is made in batches and frozen in cubes, and its smell is the first thing anyone raised on the island recognizes.
Example
If a stew tastes Puerto Rican and you cannot say why, the culantro in the sofrito is usually what you are noticing.
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Related terms
Food
Recao (culantro)
A long serrated leaf herb, stronger than cilantro and in the same aromatic family. It is the ingredient that gives...
Food
Sazón con achiote
A spice blend built on annatto that turns rice, stews and fritters that familiar orange. Annatto is the seed that...
Food
Arroz con gandules
The national dish of Puerto Rico: rice cooked with pigeon peas, sofrito, annatto and often pork. It shows up at every...
Food
Asopao
A soupy rice halfway between stew and soup, usually with chicken or seafood, built on sofrito, annatto and olives. It...
Frequently asked questions
Can I take sofrito home?
Supermarkets sell it frozen and in jars. Frozen does not survive a long flight well, so the jar is the realistic option.
Is it spicy?
No. Sweet aji peppers add aroma, not heat. The heat comes from pique, which sits on the table separately.
