Pilaf-Style White Rice

This dish is called blanco (white) not because it’s white rice and nothing else, but to distinguish it from rice dishes colored with tomatoes (arroz rojo) or green chiles and herbs (arroz verde). All are made by the sopa seca (dry soup) method, which is what we would call the pilaf method: sautéing the rice in oil or lard with seasonings before cooking it in liquid. The liquid in question would be water in most Veracruzan kitchens, but it could be s