Cabidela (Chicken and Rice Finished with Vinegared Blood)

Ingredients

• chicken · in pieces, with the gizzard and liver1.2 kg
• fresh chicken or pig blood · same-day, from a butcher150 ml
• wine vinegar · stirred into the blood at once3 tbsp
• onion · chopped1
• garlic · chopped3 cloves
• olive oil3 tbsp
• bay leaves2
• white wine150 ml
• water1.2 l
• rice · medium grain300 g
• salt1 tsp
• black pepper0.5 tsp
• flat-leaf parsley · chopped1 handful

Steps

1. Stir the vinegar into the blood straight away and keep it in the fridge. If it is sold with the vinegar already in, use it as it is.

2. Soften the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent.

   ⏲ 5 min

3. Add the chicken, giblets and bay leaves and turn until the outside turns white, then pour in the wine and reduce by half.

   ⏲ 8 min

4. Add the water and salt, cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

   ⏲ 30 min

5. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 15 minutes. Plenty of broth should be left (cooking rice).

   ⏲ 15 min

6. Mix a ladle of hot broth into the vinegared blood, then pour it into the pot. Keep stirring and cook 2-3 minutes more, until the broth turns brown and thickens, then take it off the heat (thickening).

   ⏲ 2 min 30 sec

7. Add the pepper and parsley and serve at once. The rice should be wet enough to run.

The basics behind this dish

• Browning and the Maillard ReactionMeat fails to brown for one of three reasons: it is wet, the pan is cool, or you put too much in at once. Plus how the brown film stuck to the pan becomes your sauce.
• Cooking Meat: Temperature, Resting, and Cutting Against the GrainDoneness is a core temperature, not a number of minutes. What resting actually does, how to handle a thick cut, and why the direction you slice changes the texture.
• Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.