A condiment, a sauce, a basis for beans, rice, and stews – sofrito is all this and more. There are as many recipes for sofrito as there are cooks in Latin-Caribbean countries like Puerto Rico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, but just about everyone would agree it's an essential building block in the kitchen.
Aromatic and savory, sofrito has its origins in Spanish cuisine (and the Spanish word "to fry") and typically consists of onions sautéed in oil with ingredients like garlic, hot and/or sweet peppers, tomatoes, and herbs such as cilantro, culantro, and oregano. Some sofritos are red, others are green, some chunky and others puréed. Sofritois also known by dozens of regional names including sazón in the Dominican Republic and hogao in Colombia.
Most cooks make up big batches of sofrito to store in the refrigerator or freezer and reach for it as needed. The flavorful mixture can be used as a foundation for stews and rice dishes like arroz con pollo, or to perk up everything from beans to eggs, steak, and vegetables. It can also be eaten as a dip like salsa.
Do you cook with sofrito? How do you make and use it?
Recipes:• Puerto Rican Sofrito at Serious Eats
• Colombian Hogao at About
• Dominican Sazón at About
Related: Cooking By Feel: Latin American Ingredients and Flavors
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Yum. Definitely with beans and arroz con pollo. For extra heat/flavors, I'd like to try with http://7th-taste.com/2011/09/18/carribean-prawns-in-sweet-hot-creamy-sauce-with-argentine-torrentes/
Growing up in a Puerto Rican and Filipino household, many of our dishes started with a little sofrito in the bottom an aluminum caldero, or rice pot. Today, I try and cook a wide variety cuisines, but nothing smells like "home" as much as sofrito starting a dish on the stove. I use mainly store bought, out of convenience, but my abuela always makes her own.It can be used as a base flavor for just about anything - sopa (soup), arroz con gandules, seasoning for meat fillings for pasteles (similar to Mexican tamales but but made of platanos and green bananas), rellenos (meat filled potato balls - to die for!), and emanadas.... just to name a few. I can't imagine life without a little sofrito!
Is a mirepoix a kind of sofrito? Just curios!
So strange! I did a post on Cuban-style sofrito last week. I made cuban rice and beans with tofu "pork" in a sweet, smoky spicy sauce, with sofrito to go with it. And the next day I made the leftover beans and rice into cuban beans-and-rice veggie burgers, with sofrito as a sort of relish.
I prefer Spanish-style sofrito, however, which (as I understand it, and my Spanish friends have told me) is actually tomatoes cooked long and slow until they become a sort of paste. With plenty of garlic, shallots, rosemary and smoked paprika, it's the best thing ever!
Dominicans really don't use the word 'sofrito' that is more a PR thing. However, for tips on Dominican cooking, I highly suggest this website: http://www.dominicancooking.com/1095-sofrito-sazones-dominicanos-4-versions.html
I love the smell of Puerto Rican sofrito cooking, it reminds me of my best friend's parents house and hoping there was enough rice and beans and meat for me!
I usually use:-
Pimentos (or seasoning peppers);
Onions;
Green peppers;
Scotch bonnet peppers;
Garlic, and
Cilantro
It's a base for almost everything I cook!
I spent the spring and summer cooking out of Mexican cookbooks. I found a variety of Sofrito recipes, but didn't really understand what the term meant. What a great idea to freeze up batches! Thanks!
Thill, I think it's safe to say that mirepoix, sofrito, and some of the other bases mentioned in the comments all fit the same culinary niche, though no one is exactly a version of any other...they're just great ways to get a quick start on things!
I do use a kind of sofrito for vegetarian beans (black/red/whichever) and never knew it was called that!
It's usually chopped onion, 1 red & 1 green pepper, possibly a chopped jalapeno sauteed on the stove. Don't usually bother with herbs -- probably would if I had a garden.
Who knew!
@claireooto - looks delicious! Thanks for sharing.