Arroz Meloso de Marisco Valenciano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide cazuela, saute pan, or heavy pot, 30 to 34cm across
• •Medium stock pot
• •Fine sieve
• •Wooden spoon
• •Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the stock

   Peel the prawns, keeping the heads and shells. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a pot, add the prawn heads and shells, and crush them with a spoon until they turn deep pink and smell sweet. Add the wine, let it bubble hard for 1 minute, then add 1.6 litres water, the bay leaf, parsley stems, and a pinch of salt. Simmer gently for 25 minutes, then strain, pressing hard on the shells. Measure out 1.4 litres and keep it hot.

   If you already have good fish stock, still toast the prawn shells and simmer them in it for 15 minutes. That little trouble is the difference between seafood rice and rice with seafood sitting on top.
2. 2

   Open the mussels

   Put the mussels in a covered pan with 3 tablespoons of water and set over medium-high heat until they open, 3 to 4 minutes. Lift them out as they open. Strain the mussel liquor through a fine sieve and add it to the hot stock. Discard any mussel that stays shut. Keep half the mussels in their shells for the table and remove the rest from their shells.

3. 3

   Sear the seafood

   Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wide cazuela or heavy pot. Salt the squid lightly and cook it over medium-high heat until it loses its raw shine and begins to catch at the edges, about 4 minutes. Lift it out. Sear the cigalas for 45 seconds per side, then lift them out too. Do the same with the peeled prawns for only 30 seconds per side. They finish later, and overcooked prawns are no kindness to anyone.

4. 4

   Cook the sofrito

   Lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and red pepper with a pinch of salt and cook slowly for 12 to 15 minutes, until soft, dark gold, and sweet. Stir in the garlic and scraped ñora flesh for 1 minute, then add the grated tomato. Cook until the tomato is thick, darker, and almost dry. This sofrito, the slow onion and tomato base, is the floor of the dish. Rush it and the rice tastes thin.

5. 5

   Toast the rice

   Stir in the pimentón and saffron for a few seconds, keeping the pan off fierce heat so the pimentón does not scorch. Add the rice and the reserved squid, then turn the grains through the sofrito for 1 minute until glossy. Pésalo, no lo adivines: for 320g rice you want about 1.4 litres hot stock for a proper meloso finish.

6. 6

   Cook it loose

   Pour in 1.2 litres of the hot stock at once and stir well. Bring to a lively simmer, then cook uncovered for 13 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then so the rice releases some starch and stays creamy. Add more hot stock by the ladle if the rice tightens before it is nearly done. The grains should be tender with a small bite, and the liquid should be glossy enough to move around the spoon.

7. 7

   Finish the seafood

   Nestle in the cigalas, prawns, and mussels for the last 3 minutes, turning them gently into the rice without breaking the grains. Taste for salt. Take the cazuela off the heat while the rice is still looser than you want it on the plate, because it keeps drinking as it rests.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Rest for 3 minutes, no longer, then stir once or twice to bring the starch and stock together. Scatter with chopped parsley if you like it, and serve straight away with lemon wedges on the side. Arroz meloso waits for no one; call people to the table before the rice is finished, not after.

Chef Tips

• •Use round Valencian rice if you can: bomba, senia, or albufera. Bomba stays separate and forgives a little extra stock; senia and albufera give a creamier finish but soften faster, so watch the last minutes closely.
• •Cigalas give the sweetest stock and the best table, but good raw shell-on prawns are the honest substitute. If you use only prawns, buy them with heads on. Peeled prawns give you nothing for the pot.
• •Keep the stock hot. Cold stock drops the temperature and makes the rice cook unevenly, hard in the middle and tired outside.
• •Do not turn this into paella. This is a Valencian meloso, made to be creamy and stirred a little at the end. Paella is a different rice with a dry finish and a different discipline.
• •If tomatoes are weak, use 200g good canned grated tomato instead of pale fresh ones. It is a compromise, but a sensible one. A sad tomato makes a sad sofrito.
• •Serve with a dry Valencian white or a young cava. Nothing too perfumed. The rice already has the sea in it.

Advance Preparation

• •The shellfish stock can be made up to 24 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Reheat it fully before it touches the rice.
• •The sofrito can be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled. Bring it back to a simmer in the cazuela before adding the rice.
• •Do not cook the rice ahead. Arroz meloso is at its best in the first minutes after resting, while it is still loose and glossy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 680g)