It is also known as Carolina red rice or Savannah red rice. Whatever the actual geolocation, it is a Southern dish descended from West African jollof rice.
Red, red rice
My rice isn’t as vibrantly red as Millie Peartree’s at New York Times Cooking, but that’s probably my penalty for cultural appropriation. On the other hand NYT photographer might be niftier with image editing.
Seriously though, it’s probably the difference in the kind of tomato purée they have in the US, which is more like Italian passata, and the tomato paste that I used in the recipe.
But it doesn’t have to be Technicolour red to be utterly delicious.
Where does the red rice dish come from?
Red rice goes back to the times before the United States of America were born.
It was a hearty dish cooked by the enslaved West Africans brought to the American colonies, to which is now South Carolina.
In fact rice itself was brought to the American continent on the slave ships and it was originally grown in small plots by the slaves for their own food.
In late 17th century though it became a valued crop grown on plantations in the region and widely exported.
All that clearly explains the similarities between Charleston red rice and jollof rice. They are both spiced, fragrant, tomatoey dishes cooked in one pot.
How to cook red rice?
Red rice is easy to cook and the technique is familiar to anyone who cooks jollofs or pilafs. The fat/meat insert in red rice is bacon, though apparently ‘fatback’ – pork back fat – and a little sausage is also traditionally used.
The bacon should be cooked first until crisp, so that the rendered fat can be used to cook the vegetables: Creole ‘holy trinity’ of a soffritto, pepper, onion and celery, with a little garlic added later.
To that base rinsed rice is stirred in, with the returning bacon, water or stock and tomato paste, plus all the spices and seasoning: hot sauce, sugar, black and cayenne pepper and Cajun spice.
When is gets to the bubbling point, it can be covered and transferred to the oven for just under an hour.
Homemade Cajun seasoning
If you like, make your own Cajun seasoning rather than use a shop bought jar.
It’s a mix of 2 ½ tsp paprika, 2 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, ½ tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano and 1 tsp dried thyme.
It is very similar to Creole seasoning and some people do believe the two are the same spice mix. But the expert opinions say that Cajun is hot and peppery while Creole is milder and more herbal, with the emphasis on garlic and onion.
More rice recipes
Mejadra is a simple lentil and brown rice dish and my recipe has a great fried onions shortcut tip. Levantine rice and lentils were the biblical Esau’s ‘bowl of stew’. Probably.
Tomato rice with crispy cheese topping can be made with leftover cold rice. Spiced up with tomato and chilli, flashed under the grill, ready in 40 minutes even if the rice is boiled from scratch.
Persian baked rice with saffron and dill. Recipe for Persian rice (tahchin) with tahdig, burnt, crisp and crunchy layer of rice at the bottom. The easiest Persian rice recipe with perfect tahdig every time.
More Creole recipes
Chicken Creole with chicken breast chunks and homemade Creole seasoning; best served with rice or plain tortilla chips.
Easy dirty rice with minced pork and homemade Creole seasoning, a bomb of flavours and a healthy main course ready in about 40 minutes.
Prawns Creole for two served with plain rice is my signature special main dish these days. Easy sauce base and roux, and homemade Creole seasoning recipe included.