(upbeat music) - [Yia] Today, we're making Puerto Rican fricasé de pollo with Chef Nettie Colón in her amazing backyard kitchen.

(bell dinging) (Yia knocking) - Yia, my friend, welcome!

- So excited to be here!

- [Nettie] Come on in.

- [Yia] This is a beautiful backyard here.

- [Nettie] Oh, thank you.

You know, I'm just trying to bring a little bit of the island vibe.

- [Yia] So let's get started.

- So today, what we're gonna make is fricasé de pollo.

- Okay.

- Or chicken fricassee.

- Okay.

- It is a very popular island dish that is made, and the reason why it's popular is because back in the day, when you had to feed many, many people, it was the dish that you could sort of make grow with very little chicken.

- Yes.

- So it is comfort food at its best.

And then you serve that over white rice and you can't go wrong.

- What's our first step here?

- All right.

So our first step that we have to do, we have to butcher the chicken and we have to take the skin off.

- Awesome.

- The reason being is because the skin will impart a little too much fat in it.

And some people are chicken skin people, some people are not.

- Yeah.

- I am one of those, not.

- Oh, really?

- Oh, yeah.

- I'm one of those, am.

- Oh, yeah.

You know, if it was crispy it would be a different story, but the fact that it's gonna be kind of like in there, no.

And then also leave the bones in, 'cause that adds so much flavor to it.

Now I'll start cutting the ham.

- [Yia] Awesome.

Nettie, I would love to hear a little bit more about your story.

- So I was born in New York, raised in Puerto Rico.

We did the reverse of "West Side Story."

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- My maternal grandmother's from the center of the island of Puerto Rico.

My grandmother didn't have much at all.

She basically didn't have any schooling.

She raised eight kids, right?

She had 48 grandchildren.

So we used to go up there and- - 48 grandchildren?

- Oh, yeah.

- Oh, yeah.

- Yeah.

- Sounds like a Hmong family.

- Mhmm, absolutely.

(Yia laughs) We were so, like, amazed by how different our lives were, from the city going to the farm.

And she would just teach us how to, like, raise chickens, how to butcher chickens, butcher pigs, you know, roast coffee and all of that.

And there was so much happiness and so much abundance.

I'm gonna start on the sofrito.

- [Yia] Awesome.

- Which is the total basis of everything delicious.

- [Yia] Mhmm.

(upbeat music) - So take an onion.

And what we're gonna do, we're just gonna dice it small enough so that it fits into the pilón.

- Okay.

- Which is what we call this baby right here.

I think you, you use one too, don't you?

- [Yia] Yeah, I love using them.

It's a different kinda texture.

Yeah.

- [Nettie] Yeah.

It releases the oils in a totally different way.

- Yep.

- Yeah.

In Puerto Rico, you have a pilón, and that's like, you love that more than your own kids, to tell the truth.

You know, seriously.

(laughs) Now that we have everything cut, we'll do the garlic, you know.

And like, never be afraid of garlic.

- With some of the recipes we do, we're pushing like four or five.

- Yeah, exactly.

- Yeah.

- You know, and the thing is, we're also cooking for a lot of people.

- Yeah.

- Right?

- Yeah.

- In Puerto Rican culture, your friends always show up, or your family members with a bunch of other people.

Right?

- Yes!

So I love that 'cause I see that reflecting Hmong culture, 'cause like, you never go, oh, we were having four people over.

We're gonna make enough food for four people.

- Yeah.

No.

- It's like, no, no, no, no.

You make food for eight and if four shows, sure, take some home.

- Exactly.

- Exactly - Exactly.

- And I love that.

- So, all right.

So I'm gonna put this in here.

In there I've put a little bit of salt because that helps with the garlic to not stick.

- Okay.

- So you just go at it.

(Nettie laughs) Now I'll start cutting the pumpkin.

I mean, you can just smell it.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- It's like- - Oh my gosh.

Yes.

- [Nettie] Oh, you're doing, that's awesome.

- I just wanna impress my Puerto Rican auntie, you know?

(Nettie laughing) - Your Puerto Rican auntie is very proud of you.

- Aww.

(pestle pounding) - When you are done with it, you don't wash them.

You just wipe them clean because that's how you season it.

So my mom has one that is, I think it was before I was born.

- Okay.

- So yeah.

It was given to her by my- - 27 years ago?

- Yeah, right.

Yeah, times two.

Yeah.

(Nettie and Yia laughing) So yeah.

Now I think we can head down to the fire, get it set up and start cooking.

(upbeat music) (charcoal clattering) - [Yia] Nettie, I love this grill.

- So what it is, is a Argentinian-style parilla or grill.

The wheel and the mechanized, so you can control how you cook.

Instead of controlling the fire, you're controlling more of like, what the meat is, so there's grates that go on there.

I got this dropped-in box, and then this, we had it built.

So we could just put it in there.

So we're never moving from this house.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - This backyard, you know?

So this is very important in Spanish cuisine.

I would say these two are the two things that every household has.

- Yeah.

Yup.

- This is a caldero.

And a caldero stays in the family or it's used for like years.

- Yeah.

- And this, actually it's quite new.

So it's not something that I would sort of brag about this caldero 'cause technically it should be like dark, you know, like pretty much a black pot.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- So we're going to put the, everything in here, in layers.

So.

- And you just throw that right on the coal.

- I'm just gonna throw that right on the coals.

- That's awesome.

- Right?

- Mhmm.

- [Nettie] Once we start getting everything in, we'll just bury that even more.

We have here a little bit, again, pork lard that, you know, any household in Puerto Rico would have it laying around from the meal before.

- Exactly.

- [Nettie] Or just because.

And then we're gonna throw in our ham.

- [Yia] And this is what I love about, you know, Puerto Rican food, is that even though this is a chicken dish, you start with pork.

- Oh, yeah.

And it's just, it's everything about adding flavor to it.

- Yes.

- Then we're just gonna add a little bit of oregano.

- [Yia] Mhmm.

(metal clanging) - And then if you wanna dump in the sofrito.

- Oh that, that smell.

Oh my gosh.

- Yeah.

This is like the textbook combination of a Puerto Rican braise, if you will.

You have the sofrito.

You have a little bit of the pork lard, the ham, and then a little bit of the dry herb.

(metal scratching) (metal clanging) All right, so if you wanna place the chicken.

- Yup.

- Now notice that one thing that we're doing differently from braising is that we're not searing the chicken.

- [Yia] Yeah.

- [Nettie] We're just basically placing it strategically right on top.

- [Yia] Nettie, could you tell me a little bit more about Puerto Rican flavors?

- Yeah, Puerto Rican flavors are bold flavors that are just very, like beautiful, comforting.

They're flavors from Africa, they're flavors from Spain, and they're flavors from the Caribbean Indians.

You have a combination of sweet, salty, savory, and it's just, they're meant to comfort you, and they're meant to feed your soul.

- And you know what I love about this, is there's so many flavors in this.

- Each family does this dish a little bit differently.

So I was taught by my grandmother.

So that's the flavors that I have.

And then we're just gonna cover it now and then wedge that in deeper.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

And now we wait for it to cook.

- [Yia] And how long does this usually take?

- Depending on how big your chicken pieces are, it'll be about 40 minutes.

When you're cooking on the coals, that is a pretty intense heat even though it doesn't look like it.

And then the end, right before we remove it, we'll add the peas and the butter 'cause you gotta have butter, more fat.

Right?

And so like, yeah, you gotta have butter.

Right?

- Yeah.

- [Nettie] So we'll take the lid off, let it cook, let it reduce.

And then we'll have dinner.

- That sounds delicious.

- Yeah.

Ready to eat.

And here we are, my friend.

- Oh my gosh.

- [Nettie] Fricasé de pollo, Puerto Rican-style.

- Oh, it smells so delicious.

- And to go with that, a little white rice.

- [Yia] Oh, yes.

- Buon appetito.

- Oh my gosh.

This is so delicious.

Like, I love that you put the peas in, right at the end, so they don't get mushy.

They're still, they have texture.

There's still a fresh crunch.

But you, that vinegar, and those capers really help cut through just like the fattiness.

And that's like, so key in here.

- Mhmm.

Mhmm.

And remember that, you know, this right here, this pot right here would feed 20 people.

- [Yia] Yeah.

- I come from an island of 35 miles wide by a hundred long, right?

There is poverty.

And there still is, but no one goes without food, because what you have you share.

And so if I have a loaf of bread and you don't have any, then we both have half because I will give you half.

And so for me, when I cook, for me, I cook with my grandmother on my shoulder.

- Yeah, that's right.

- You know?

And everything that I do when it comes to food, I have her, you know?

It's sort of like, it's, I remember her.

And it's just like, that's where I come from.

That's who I am.

(upbeat music) I'm telling you, the rice makes it.

- I know!

- This dish without the rice is not the same.