what is the main food in puerto rico
Puerto Rican cuisine
Arroz con gandules -- Yellow - rice - and - pigeon - pea dish . Sofríto and annatto oil plays the biggest part in flavoring and coloring rice . Alcaparrado ( capers and olives stuffed with red peppers ) , pieces of pork , spices , bay leaves , banana leaf and broth . Beverages -- The official Puerto Rican Christmas drink is coquito , an eggnog - like rum and coconut milk - based homemade beverage . The holiday season is also a time that many piñas coladas are prepared , underscoring the combination of pineapples and coconuts seen in Puerto Rican cuisine . Beer is popular and Puerto Rican style rum punch with sparkling wine and fruit . Chuletón -- Christmas soup . A variety of beans cooked with sofríto , sazón , pork chops , pork bones , ham , smoked ham hock , salchichón , potatoes , and carrots . This soup is served on Christmas with bread and is not part or the Nochebuena ( the good night ) festival . Escabeche de Guineo con Mollejas -- Unripe , green bananas and chicken gizzards pickled in a garlicky brine . Pasteles -- For many Puerto Rican families , the quintessential holiday season dish is pasteles ( `` pies '' ) , usually not a sweet pastry or cake , but a soft dough - like mass wrapped in a banana or plantain leaf and boiled , and in the center chopped meat , shellfish , chicken , raisins , spices , capers , olives , sofrito , and often garbanzo beans . Puerto Rican pasteles are made from either green bananas or starchy tropical roots . The wrapper in a Puerto Rican pastel is a banana leaf . Lechón -- Pork is central to Puerto Rican holiday cooking , especially the lechón ( spit - roasted piglet ) . Holiday feasts might include several pork dishes , such as pernil ( a baked fresh pork shoulder seasoned in adobo mojado ) , morcilla ( a black blood sausage ) , and jamón con piña ( ham and pineapple ) . Ensaladas -- Most Puerto Rican tables on the holidays have one or two salads . A topical salad would be potato salad with peppers , onions , mayonnaise and with or without chorizo . Macaroni salad with peppers , onions , tomatoes and can tuna or spam . The macaroni is tossed usually in mayonnaise or vinegar and olive oil . Octopus with a citrus vinaigrette and tropical fruits . Puerto
Arroz con gandules -- Yellow - rice - and - pigeon - pea dish . Sofríto and annatto oil plays the biggest part in flavoring and coloring rice . Alcaparrado ( capers and olives stuffed with red peppers ) , pieces of pork , spices , bay leaves , banana leaf and broth . Beverages -- The official Puerto Rican Christmas drink is coquito , an eggnog - like rum and coconut milk - based homemade beverage . The holiday season is also a time that many piñas coladas are prepared , underscoring the combination of pineapples and coconuts seen in Puerto Rican cuisine . Beer is popular and Puerto Rican style rum punch with sparkling wine and fruit . Chuletón -- Christmas soup . A variety of beans cooked with sofríto , sazón , pork chops , pork bones , ham , smoked ham hock , salchichón , potatoes , and carrots . This soup is served on Christmas with bread and is not part or the Nochebuena ( the good night ) festival . Escabeche de Guineo con Mollejas -- Unripe , green bananas and chicken gizzards pickled in a garlicky brine . Pasteles -- For many Puerto Rican families , the quintessential holiday season dish is pasteles ( `` pies '' ) , usually not a sweet pastry or cake , but a soft dough - like mass wrapped in a banana or plantain leaf and boiled , and in the center chopped meat , shellfish , chicken , raisins , spices , capers , olives , sofrito , and often garbanzo beans . Puerto Rican pasteles are made from either green bananas or starchy tropical roots . The wrapper in a Puerto Rican pastel is a banana leaf . Lechón -- Pork is central to Puerto Rican holiday cooking , especially the lechón ( spit - roasted piglet ) . Holiday feasts might include several pork dishes , such as pernil ( a baked fresh pork shoulder seasoned in adobo mojado ) , morcilla ( a black blood sausage ) , and jamón con piña ( ham and pineapple ) . Ensaladas -- Most Puerto Rican tables on the holidays have one or two salads . A topical salad would be potato salad with peppers , onions , mayonnaise and with or without chorizo . Macaroni salad with peppers , onions , tomatoes and can tuna or spam . The macaroni is tossed usually in mayonnaise or vinegar and olive oil . Octopus with a citrus vinaigrette and tropical fruits . Puerto