Home › Vegetable Recipes › Okra, Rice, and Tomatoes
Okra, Rice, and Tomatoes
1 quart okra 1/2 lb. (I cup) rice 1½ can tomatoes I heaping tablespoonful (I oz.) butter Salt, pepper, dust of paprika Wash the rice and boil it in boiling salted water till tender; drain, and add the butter, salt, pepper, and paprika. Cut the okra in slices and cook it in a small quantity of boiling water. When nearly ready add the tomatoes and the rice.
Serve hot in fireproof dishes.
A simple stovetop vegetable dish that only touches a casserole at the serving stage. The measurements are loose in the original, so a few decisions have to be made before you start.
- Okra by volumeThe quart is measured before cutting; a quart of pods comes out at roughly a pound. Frozen cut okra works, but thaw and drain it first or the finished dish will be watery.
- The tomato measure"1½ can tomatoes" is genuinely ambiguous — period cans ran anywhere from about 14 oz to a full quart. Around 20-24 oz of canned whole or diced tomatoes with their juice gives a sensible ratio to a pound of okra and a cup of rice.
- Rice quantityThe original equates 1/2 lb with 1 cup, which is close enough for long-grain white rice. Cooked in plenty of salted water and drained, it yields about 3 cups.
- The hinge: keep the okra water minimal"A small quantity of boiling water" is the whole point. Okra in excess water turns slick and the mucilage spreads through the dish; use just enough to steam the slices, about half a cup, and let it cook down as they soften.
- Don't overcook the okraSliced okra needs 6-10 minutes to become tender. Longer and it collapses into strings. Add the tomatoes when the slices are still slightly firm and give the whole thing another five minutes to marry.
- Fold the rice in at the endThe rice is already cooked and buttered, so stir it through off the heat or over very low heat. Vigorous mixing breaks the grains and muddies the dish.
- SeasoningThe rice is already salted, peppered and dusted with paprika, so season again after the tomatoes go in and taste once more after the rice, which absorbs a surprising amount.
- Serving"Fireproof dishes" means ovenproof earthenware or glass, warmed; individual dishes are one option, a single dish another. Reckon on four to six as a side. If you want a browned top, a few minutes under the broiler with breadcrumbs does no harm.
Okra, rice and tomatoes is the plainest form of a dish that runs through the whole Gulf and Lowcountry repertoire, from Creole "okra and rice" to the tomato-and-okra stews that stand behind gumbo — okra itself came to the Americas from West Africa, and its name is generally traced to Igbo okuru. Note that the cooking is all done on the stove; the casserole is used only for presentation, which was very much part of the appeal of such ware. The reliance on canned tomatoes rather than fresh also dates the page — commercially canned tomatoes were cheap and widely available in American kitchens, though many cookbooks continued to prefer fresh where they could be had.