Locrio (Dominican One-pot Chicken and Rice)

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut into 10 serving pieces, skin removed, except for the wings and drummettes (but cut off and discard the wing tips)
3 tbsp lemon or lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp adobo seasoning
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp minced garlic
4 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sugar
60ml tomato sauce or 1 tbsp tomato purée
50 pitted green olives chopped
4 slices yellow onion
1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbles
4 sprigs fresh coriander
60ml water for adding to marinade
750ml water, for second cooking portion
500g long-grain rice soaked for 60 minutes and drained

Method:

Place the chicken in a bowl then season by adding lemon (or lime) juice, soy sauce, oregano, adobo, and garlic. Stir well. You can marinade for a few hours (or overnight for more flavour).

Place a deep pot or wok over medium heat. Add the corn oil and the sugar. Watch for the sugar to start caramelizing. It will smoke a bit, which is normal. You want the sugar to be very well caramelized, dark and approaching being burnt.

Add the chicken piece by piece while holding the lid over the pot. It may splatter a bit, so just be careful.

Lower the heat to medium and cook, covered for about 3 minutes.

In the meantime, add 1/4 cup water to the remaining seasoning liquid. Using tongs, turn the chicken pieces over, add a little bit of the seasoned liquid to the chicken and cover. Continue to stir and add liquid, as needed, every 5 minutes until cooked through.

Once the chicken is cooked and the excess liquid has evaporated away, remove the chicken with tongs and set aside on a plate (cover with foil to keep warm).

Now add the tomato sauce, olives, onions, chicken bouillon and coriander to the pot where you just removed the chicken from. Stir well to combine then add 750ml water, stir well to combine then cover the pot and increase the heat to high, bringing the liquid to a boil.

Once the pot is boiling, add the rice and stir in well. Allow water to evaporate while stirring the rice often. When the rice is almost done return the chicken to the pot and stir very gently to combine.

Cover the pot and cook gently for 30 minutes. At the end of this time, stir and cover the pot ten cook gently for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Serve the locrito warm with your choice of accompaniments such as fried plantains and/or salad.