Spicy Sardine Rice

A good friend of mine from college made something similar to this dish many moons ago. I felt like making it myself from what I could remember, thinking about those days in college. Let's see if my taste buds could guide me to reconstruct the flavor from the past!

Spicy sardine rice

Spicy Sardine Rice

2 cans sardines in tomato sauce, 5 oz each
2 cups basamati rice
1 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup frozen carrots and peas
3 Tbsp sake or white wine
2 tsp red or green Thai peppers, chopped, adjust to your liking
2 tsp olive oli
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cube chicken bullion
1 clove, garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp green onions, chopped
Handful cilantro, chopped

Sardines in tomato sauce

Thai peppers. I took the seeds out. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a skillet, cook onions and garlic in olive oil until fragrant, toss in peppers, sardines, sake and rice. When the sauce reduces and rice starts to brown, transfer the mixture to 9x11 casserole dish and add canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, a bay leaf, a cube of chicken bullion and water. Bake for 60 minutes covered. Mix in chopped green onions and cilantro. 

Cook until rice is almost golden brown.

Transfer to a casserole dish and bake.

After baking for 60 minutes....

The verdict? It tasted great. If you like Spanish paella, you'll love this dish. But I think I remember this dish being more red with tomatoes and much spicier: if you'd like, you can add a bit of tomato paste and add more Thai peppers and see what happens. 

Splash lime on top before serving.

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