Sofrito

In Puerto Rican cuisine it is mostly used when cooking legumes, rice dishes, sauces, soups and stews. The two main ingredients that give Puerto Rican sofrito its characteristic flavor are recao (also known as culantro) and ají dulce, but cubanelle peppers, roasted red pepper, yellow onions, garlic, plum tomatoes and cilantro (coriander), are also added. Sofrito is traditionally cooked with olive oil or annatto oil, tocino (bacon), salted pork and cured ham. A mix of stuffed olives and capers called alcaparrado are usually added with spices such as bay leaf, cumin, sazón and adobo.

Sofrito

In Dominican cuisine sofrito is also called sazón (not to be confused with Puerto Rican sazón), and is a liquid mixture containing vinegar, water and sometimes tomato juice. A sofrito or sazón is used for rice, stews, beans, and other dishes. A typical Dominican sofrito is made up of very finely chopped green, red and yellow bell peppers, red onions, garlic, ground annatto, ground oregano, apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, water, and cilantro. Ingredients vary and can change, for instance cubanelle peppers can substitute for bell peppers, celery can replace onions and parsley or culantro can be used in place of cilantro.

Sofrito

In Caribbean cuisine, sofrito is a seasoned lard and functions as a base for many traditional dishes, but prepared differently from the method described above. Lard (acquired from rendering salt pork) is strained, and annatto seeds are added to colour it yellow, and later strained out. To the colored lard is added a ground mixture of cured ham, bell pepper, chile pepper, and onion; after this, mashed coriander (cilantro) and oregano leaves are added. Garlic cloves are added in a tea ball, and the sauce is simmered for half an hour.[1] The term also refers to a number of related sauces and seasonings in the Caribbean and Central and Latin America.