How to make Mexican rice

 There’s two basic kinds of rice in the world: fluffy and pre-fried. Mexican rice is the pre-fried kind. To make Mexican rice, you:

1. Fry your aromatics. For me, this is onions, but you can add garlic, fennel, whatever you like. Onions are essential though.
2. Fry your rice and spices. Fry your rice until it becomes aromatic and translucent. Fry your dry spices now too, which is blooms them and enhances their flavors.
3. Fry your tomato sauce and oregano. Frying tomato sauce caramelizes it and kills that sometimes sour tomato taste that not everyone loves. The more you dislike tomatoes, the more you should fry it, but don’t skip the tomatoes, because they add an essential umami layer of flavor™.
4. Add water, cook, and steam the rice. For perfect-almost-all-rices, add 1.25 cups of water for every cups of rice, bring to a boil, cook for 17-20 minutes (depending on how al dente you like your rice) then steam for 10.
5. Fluff and serve. As soon as that last 10 minutes is up, fluff up the rice, then serve with your favorite Mexican sides.