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Sofrito
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- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into quarters
- 3ají dulce or amarillo peppers (or mini bell peppers), seeded and coarsely chopped (see Notes)
- 6large garlic cloves
- 1large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 6fresh culantro leaves and tender stems, coarsely chopped (see Notes)
- 6fresh cilantro stems, coarsely chopped
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large food processor or blender, blend the peppers and garlic until smooth.
- Step 2
Add the onion and blend until smooth, then add the culantro and cilantro, and blend until smooth. The sofrito will keep covered in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If you can’t find ají dulce or amarillo peppers, it’s OK to use more red, orange or yellow bell pepper.
- Culantro, also called sawtooth herb or wild coriander, has long leaves with jagged edges and a stronger, earthier flavor than cilantro. You can find it in the produce section of most Latino markets, as well as many Asian markets.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I love culantro (Eryngium foetidum) and find it superior to cilantro (Coriandrum sativum), as I am one of those people who perceives cilantro as smelling of wet, dirty dog and tasting of soap. I don't have that problem with culantro, despite how persistent it is both as a taste and an odour. "Pro tips": where I live, I can only find culantro in Asian grocery stores, where it is labelled as ngò gai. Other names include recao, chardon/shadon/shadow beni, bhandhania, Mexican/Vietnamese coriander.
No, Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata) is a entirely different plant than culantro, AKA Ngo gai, which is known as Mexican coriander. I grow both and believe me there is a huge difference.
The amarillo pepper is hot, and tastes nothing like the aji dulce used in PR. A cubanelle pepper would be a much better substitute, and is usually included in most sofrito recipes, in addition to the aji dulce.
There's an excellent anti-food waste reason not to list weights for veg in recipes such as this. The level of precision indicated by weight isn't necessary or meaningful, and giving a weight might lead folks to believe that they need that precision, resulting in both more fuss and odd ends of veg that get thrown away.
In my family, we add dried oregano to sofrito as well. It rounds out the flavor nicely. This recipe is the gold standard as far as Puerto Rican sofrito goes. Any substitutions would change the flavor profile. Try it as written- you won’t be disappointed!
I couldn’t agree more, Margaret. The range available of what constitutes “an onion” is vast. Weights (along with any other measurements) help give us an clue on quantities. And when weights are given were in metric - hurray! I abhor food waste, and simply return unused ingredients to the fridge until needed. Don’t we all? That folks would waste food just because a recipe is given with weight measurements…well that’s a head scratcher.
Que rico! I can smell it from here! We make this from the garden (but we buy onion), and freeze it in ice cube trays so we can pop it in soups and sauces.
The best sofritto I have made, bar none! I freeze it, and use it whenever I want to bump up the flavor of many dishes.
In Cuba we also make sofrito, although it is slightly different from Puerto Rico's. The "Trinity" is olive oil, garlic and onion. People usually add green pepper, pimientos (sweet red peppers) salt, pepper. tomatoes, vino seco (dry cooking wine), Spanish chorizo, spices (cumin, culantro (not cilantro)), "Mexican" oregano (different from "American" oregano), sazon, saffron, bay leaves, annato, etc., depending on what they are cooking. Cuban food is spicy, but it is not "hot".
My Puerto Rican grandmother never used cilantro or cualantro, and neither did my mom, and neither do I :-) I don't know why they didn't use it, but I don't because I'm one of those people with a cilantro-aversion. If any purist tries to tell you that cualantro (or cilantro) must be included in an 'authentic' sofrito, they can take it up with my grandma who was born and raised in Puerto RIco. ;-p
Que rico! I can smell it from here! We make this from the garden (but we buy onion), and freeze it in ice cube trays so we can pop it in soups and sauces.
The composition of sofrito is subjective. Put in the combo you prefer. But as long as you are using your food processor make a big batch. I use equal parts big onions, any color sweet peppers, cilantro, at least two whole heads of garlic, peeled, and when I find them I add a few “ajies” or “ajicitos” which are sweet ( be sure you ask if they are sweet). And I don’t find that using culantro vs cilantro makes much difference, but it feels more authentic to include culantro ( also known as recao).
Why is mine pink and not a deeper red?
No need to chop anything, it's getting food processed. Just halve the onion and pepper.
We have been making our own Sofrito and loving it using multiple combo ingredients. We substitute our Southern AZ peppers since we don't have dulce or amarillo peppers here and it is still super great. We make big batches in the food processor and freeze it in smaller portions. Adding a few plum tomatoes to this mix of peppers, onion garlic and cilantro also works super well.
The amarillo pepper is hot, and tastes nothing like the aji dulce used in PR. A cubanelle pepper would be a much better substitute, and is usually included in most sofrito recipes, in addition to the aji dulce.
I wish weights were included for peppers and onions.
There's an excellent anti-food waste reason not to list weights for veg in recipes such as this. The level of precision indicated by weight isn't necessary or meaningful, and giving a weight might lead folks to believe that they need that precision, resulting in both more fuss and odd ends of veg that get thrown away.
I couldn’t agree more, Margaret. The range available of what constitutes “an onion” is vast. Weights (along with any other measurements) help give us an clue on quantities. And when weights are given were in metric - hurray! I abhor food waste, and simply return unused ingredients to the fridge until needed. Don’t we all? That folks would waste food just because a recipe is given with weight measurements…well that’s a head scratcher.
So where can I buy culantro if it's not available in Asian stores because, according to Suzi, it's not the same thing as Ngo gai?
Yes, cilantro is indeed Ngo gai - trust me! See my new public note...
Sorry - I meant culantro, not cilantro. Ngo gai is culantro.
i know this question is a year old now, but you can get culantro at the market basket in chelsea, MA. i'm not sure if other market baskets carry it, but you could call and ask. that is of course, if you live in new england. i would encourage everybody who asks where to buy something locally to include their location so other readers can be of more help :)
Find recap in the Ohio area at Jungle Jim’s. I don’t work there but you can find most of these ingredients. I planted my own ají dulce. They produce a lot and you can freeze the batches of sofrito.
In my family, we add dried oregano to sofrito as well. It rounds out the flavor nicely. This recipe is the gold standard as far as Puerto Rican sofrito goes. Any substitutions would change the flavor profile. Try it as written- you won’t be disappointed!
What dishes do you use the sofrito for? I also don't like cilantro, I find that it is tasteless compared to the Vietnamese one Where does one find Mexican coriander?
you use sofrito in most everything in PR, and it goes great just about anywhere. toss it in your pot of beans, chuck it in a stew, throw it in when you brown your aromatics for meatloaf...you can't go wrong.
I love culantro (Eryngium foetidum) and find it superior to cilantro (Coriandrum sativum), as I am one of those people who perceives cilantro as smelling of wet, dirty dog and tasting of soap. I don't have that problem with culantro, despite how persistent it is both as a taste and an odour. "Pro tips": where I live, I can only find culantro in Asian grocery stores, where it is labelled as ngò gai. Other names include recao, chardon/shadon/shadow beni, bhandhania, Mexican/Vietnamese coriander.
No, Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata) is a entirely different plant than culantro, AKA Ngo gai, which is known as Mexican coriander. I grow both and believe me there is a huge difference.
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