Pan de arroz is recognised as the gastronomic heritage of the Llanos Orientales, declared so by Radio Nacional de Colombia. It is a ring-shaped amasijo (bake) made of soaked rice and cuajada (fresh curd), bound with llanero cheese and butter, and is iconic of the Meta towns of Restrepo and San Martín. The rice base ties it to the rice-growing heartland of the Meta, and it is eaten as an accompaniment or a snack throughout the eastern plains.
Golden crusted with a dense, slightly chewy, faintly sweet crumb from the cuajada and rice, the llanero cheese running through it in salty flecks. Eaten warm with coffee, it is filling and gently savoury.
The rice is soaked whole (often broken grains) until fully softened, then mixed raw into a dough with grated cuajada, llanero cheese and butter. The dough is shaped into rings and baked, during which the rice finishes cooking in the moisture of the cheese and curd. The ring shape helps it bake evenly through the dense dough.
Variations
A sweet variant adds sugar and bocadillo filling. Some bakers mix in a little cornmeal.
On the Palate
Where Pan de Arroz sits in the Colombian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 20 min
- 14 min
Soak 300g broken white rice in water for 2 hours; drain well.
Watch outSoak the rice until fully soft before mixing — under-soaked grains stay hard and gritty since they only finish cooking in the cheese's moisture.
- 25 min
Grate 200g cuajada and 150g llanero cheese; melt 100g butter.
- 35 min
Mix the soaked rice, grated cheeses, melted butter and 2 eggs into a cohesive dough; add a pinch of salt.
- 44 min
Shape the dough into 12 ring-shaped rounds on a buttered baking sheet.
- 512 min
Bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes until golden and set.
Watch outBake until golden and set right through — the dense dough needs the full time or the center stays raw and pasty.
- 62 min
Cool slightly and serve warm, with coffee for breakfast or alongside meat dishes.
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