DISH RESEARCH · Main dish
Arroz de Maíz
Soft cracked maize cooked with pork and aromatics, served with a cuadrado cooking banana.

About Arroz de Maíz
Margarita Salazar Espinoza’s arroz de maíz is documented in Costa Rica’s cultural register as a family recipe from Cañas, Guanacaste. She learned it from her mother and has passed the preparation to her daughter.
Cracked maize is soaked before cooking with cubed pork and water. Onion, garlic, chile and culantro are added toward the finish, bringing their aroma to the softened maize and meat.
Margarita serves the preparation in deep bowls with a cuadrado cooking banana. The record connects her family rendition with local celebrations, including the July and September national holidays.
Allergens in this recipe
Allergen details are not yet confirmed.
Ingredients vary by restaurant. Confirm your allergens with staff before ordering.
Ingredients in Arroz de Maíz
Margarita Salazar Espinoza's Guanacaste arroz de maíz with pork.
- Cracked maizeBase
- PorkProtein
- GarlicAromatic
- OnionAromatic
- ChileAromaticIngredient page not linked
- SaltSeasoning
- WaterLiquid
- Cuadrado cooking bananaAccompaniment
- CulantroAromaticIngredient page not linked
Ingredient details & uncertainties
Allergen information is incomplete. Unconfirmed details do not establish that an allergen is absent.
- Cracked maize: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual37 maíz cascado, no rice ingredient supplied or presumed despite dish name.
- Pork: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual38 generic pork, cut unprovided.
- Garlic: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed
- Onion: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed
- Chile: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual41/48 generic chile, exact pepper type/heat unresolved; sweetchile from different José recipe not transferred.
- Salt: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual42 listed, precise stage unspecified in abbreviated method.
- Water: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual43/46 explicit cooking water, soaking medium not separately invented.
- Cuadrado cooking banana: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual35/44 plátano cuadrado, broader cooking-banana/plantain candidate, exact cultivar unresolved; service preparation unprovided, not boiled merely because José does so.
- Culantro: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual48 method-only culantro, exact coriander/long-leaf identity unresolved, no forced cilantro or culantro-coyote mapping.
Origins & food traditions
Countries
- Costa Rica
- Costa RicaCatalogue link pending review
Cuisines & regions
- Guanacaste Cuisine
- Costa Rican CuisineCatalogue link pending review
AI-generated illustration of one possible presentation. Recipes and ingredients vary; the image does not establish allergen content.