Secrets of the Perfect Concon: How to Make Crispy Rice

En Español Recipe ↆ Video ↆ

Why we ❤️ it

If you are not Dominican and have never lived in the Dominican Republic, you will probably not understand Dominicans' passion for concón. My suggestion is that you try it; you could be surprised just how much you'll love it too.

For us, concon may be the best part of our lunch, a limited treat we hope our plate we'll be blessed with.

What's concon?

Concón is the crust of crispy rice formed at the bottom of the pot when you cook rice Dominican-style. Concón is not a dish in itself, just a byproduct of our cooking method to make rice.

The most common one is arroz blanco concón.

The perfect description I ever heard of what concón tastes like: "concón tastes like buttery popcorn", but with a very crispy mouthfeel.

Con-con rice

Concón is also sometimes called con-con, and con con rice, though these aren't the preferred or correct spellings [1][2].

Concón, pegao, etc...

Concón is our Dominican crispy rice, but it's not a unique concept in the least.

Similar rice is called pegao rice in Puerto Rico, nurungji in Korea, tahdig in Iran, hkaka in Iraq, raspa in Cuba, cocolón in Ecuador, socarrat in Spain, guo ba in China, graten in Haiti, pegado and cucayo in Colombia, kanzo or emo asi in Ghana, tutong in Philippines, xoon in Senegal, koge in Japan, etc.

What makes a concón perfect?

• It is perfectly crispy.
• It is a thin film.
• It is not burnt.

Dominican concon.

The pot

Use the correct cooking pot. Preferably cast iron or cast aluminum; however, cast aluminum is the standard in the Dominican Republic. You also need the perfect-sized pot; a pot that is too small will tend to burn the rice at the bottom. For a perfect concón the rice, once cooked, should not occupy more than ¾ of the pot (better yet, if it is only half).

To start, you need to quick-cure your pot, if your pot is not already seasoned. To do this, add vegetable oil (one that is good for frying) and cover the bottom of the pot with it. Add salt. Heat oil until it is hot enough for frying, then add water at room temperature (careful with splatters!). That will seal the pores in the pot, creating a Teflon-like film.

It doesn't matter what you've read out there, practically any pot can make concón, and I've tested that over the years. It all comes to how you cook the rice.

Rice to water ratio

To get a good concón, you need to make good rice. It should be firm but chewable. You will need to get the right proportion between rice and water to achieve this. Too much water will ruin your rice; too little and the concón will burn.

In each of our rice recipes, we give you the proportions we use; however, over time you may need to adjust the proportions to the type of rice you use, the stove you use, and the pot you have. The perfect rice can rarely be achieved on the first try.

Useful tips

• You will need to stir the rice very often to prevent the rice at the bottom from overcooking and eventually burning.
• Every time you stir it, make sure to remove the film that is forming at the bottom; concón has to be produced in the last stage of cooking. If you leave a film of rice to stick to the bottom too early, it will be too thick and will burn
• When the water has evaporated, and it is time to cover the rice, do so promptly. Pour two tablespoons of oil (optional) and stir again, removing the film at the bottom. Cover with a tight-fitting lid.
• After 10 to 15 minutes (depending on how much rice you are cooking) repeat the process above, but leave a thin coat of rice at the bottom. Once the rice is ready (firm and chewable) put the rice in the serving bowl immediately. If you leave the rice in the pot for too long, the concón will get soggy.
• After serving the rice, wait a couple of minutes for the concón to cool down and settle. Scrape off the bottom with a spoon (a wooden spoon if you do not want to scratch your seasoned cast iron pots) and serve alongside your rice. Don't be mortified by the noise; it's a big chorus in the Dominican Republic at lunchtime.

Dominican white rice and locrio con con with chicken, and beans.

Serving suggestions

Concón goes great with some Habichuelas guisadas (stewed Dominican beans), or the sauce of one of our guisado (braised) meats, like Pollo guisado, Cerdo guisado or Res guisada.

Throw in some avocado slices on the side, they're always welcome.

About this recipe

To learn how to cook concón you need to learn how to make Dominican-style rice. The easiest, and the most common one is white rice. So this is where we'll start.

If you have any tips to share, we'd love to hear it; leave it in the comments.

Buen provecho!

FAQs

References

1. Fudéu - Diez dominicanismos que quizá no conozcas
2. Fudéu