Cuban-Style Rice Recipe
When I was growing up, my Cuban grandmother always referred to this simple meal of fried eggs and rice as dinner for prostitutes. I guess what she meant was that this was their dinner since it was inexpensive and was what they could afford. I always found her comment amusing and since I didn’t care to eat fried eggs and rice, I never thought much of it. As an adult, I have heard several other people of Cuban descent call it the same. I laugh each time and remember my grandmother.
Recently, I reviewed a cookbook filled with recipes from Spain. While browsing the cookbook, I found the famous fried eggs and rice by another name, “Cuban Style Rice.” I learned that this recipe is actually popular in the Canary Islands and Catalonia. My grandfather, her husband, was from the Canary Islands, funny, right?
Here is the recipe. It is actually a substantial supper dish popular in many cultures.
I made this recipe the other night for my family. It was a bit different from the regular fried eggs and rice. I smiled as I prepared this dish because I knew my grandmother was smiling back down on me.
Try it for yourself. Enjoy!
~Susi
Ingredients
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 1/2 cups of long grain rice
1 Tablespoon butter
4 large eggs
salt and paprika
Tomato Sauce (on the side)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 12 oz can of tomatoes
4 thyme or oregano sprigs
ground black pepper
Directions
1. Make the tomato sauce first. Heat the oil in the pan, add the onion and garlic and fry gently, stirring until soft. Stir in the tomatoes and thyme and oregano. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the seasoning to taste. Remove the herbs and keep warm.
2. Cook your rice. I used a rice cooker/steamer. Follow your own rice guidelines. Add the 2 whole garlic cloves to the rice. Cook until rice is done and all liquid has been absorbed.
3. Heat a pan with the olive oil and gently fry one chopped garlic clove, Add the rice, stir, season well, then turn off the heat and cover the pan.
4. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and fry the eggs over a medium-high heat, until the edges turn golden. Season to taste with salt and paprika. Serve the rice surrounded by the tomato sauce and top with the fried egg.
Reading & Writing Between The Wines Blog 
I guess this is the Cuban equivalent of “Spaghetti alla puttanesca” or whore’s pasta”. Cheap, flavoursome and filling.
How many whores does your recipe feed?
It can feed four, one egg for each.
🙂
You taught me something new. Even though my father was Cuban, it was my mother’s Colombian influence that raised me so I was never aware of this nickname 😉
Do you know how many times I eat this when I’m down to very little in the fridge??? Too funny!
Hi Susi!
I’m spanish and it’s the first time that I hear “comida de putas” hahaha
We say “arroz con tomate y huevos fritos”, but is also very common to say, as you mentioned, “arroz a la cubana”. When I cook this dish, it looks similar to the image you took but with the fried tomato sauce totally liquid and mixed with the rice. I used to love it, my favourite dish during my childhood ❤
I had to laugh when they made this dish for me last week in Madrid. I never ate it much as a child. My husband, loves it. Now, I enjoy it too. 🙂