Bijol substitute

Substitutes for Bijol with ratios

1. 2Annatto Oil (Bloomed and Strained)

   Close match

   Use use as your cooking fat, from 1 tbsp seeds for every ¼ cup oil

   Warm a tablespoon of annatto seeds in a quarter cup of neutral oil over low heat for three or four minutes until the oil goes deep orange, then strain out the seeds.

   What changes

   This gives the most even, most vivid colour of any option and adds zero grittiness or powdery texture.

   Best for

   yellow rice, arroz con pollo, any dish that starts with oil, Puerto Rican and Filipino cooking

   Keep the heat low. If the seeds smoke or go dark the oil turns bitter and slightly metallic. Strained annatto oil keeps in a jar in the fridge for a month.

2. 3Turmeric + Sweet Paprika

   Different taste

   Use ¾ tsp turmeric + ¼ tsp paprika for every 1 tsp bijol

   Cheap and in most cupboards, and it produces a strong, convincing yellow.

   What changes

   Turmeric brings a musty, faintly bitter, distinctly Indian aroma that annatto does not have, so the rice smells subtly wrong to anyone who grew up on the real thing. The paprika warms the colour toward orange.

   Best for

   yellow rice, colour only, budget cooking, stews

   Use less turmeric than the amount of bijol called for, not more. Turmeric's colouring power is roughly three times that of bijol by volume and its bitterness climbs fast.

3. 4Sazon Packets with Annatto (Con Azafran)

   Different taste

   Use 1 packet for every 1 to 1.5 tsp bijol

   These are annatto-based like bijol, so the colour and the base aroma are right.

   What changes

   The difference is that sazon is a complete seasoning containing a lot of salt, garlic powder and usually MSG, so it seasons the dish as well as colouring it.

   Best for

   arroz con pollo, beans, stews, weeknight cooking

   Colour is nearly identical, which is why this is such a common swap, but sazon is mostly salt and garlic powder, so the dish comes out saltier and more savoury unless you compensate. Cut the salt in your recipe substantially, roughly by half a teaspoon per packet used, then taste before adding more. Most brands contain MSG, so check the label if you avoid it.

4. 5Achiote Paste, Thinned

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 tsp paste for every 1 tsp bijol

   Same colouring seed in a wetter, far more assertive form.

   What changes

   Achiote paste contains vinegar, garlic, oregano and often citrus, so the rice will taste properly seasoned and a bit tangy rather than neutral-and-yellow. Excellent, just clearly not the same dish.

   Best for

   stews, marinades, braises, roast pork

   Dissolve it in a little warm broth or oil before adding, or it will sit in stubborn red lumps in the rice. The colour lands redder and more brick-toned than bijol's yellow-orange, and because the paste carries vinegar, garlic and oregano the dish picks up a tangy Yucatecan edge that plain bijol does not have, so pull back on the vinegar and oregano elsewhere.

5. 6Saffron

   Different taste

   Use a large pinch, steeped, for every 1 tsp bijol

   Gives a genuinely beautiful yellow-gold and real flavour, but it is many times the price and it makes the dish taste unmistakably of saffron: floral, honeyed and slightly medicinal.

   What changes

   That is a lovely thing, it is just not what Cuban arroz amarillo tastes like.

   Best for

   special occasion rice, paella-style dishes

   Crush the threads and steep in a few tablespoons of hot broth for ten minutes first, then add liquid and all. Adding threads dry wastes most of the colour and most of the money.