Bullit de Peix Eivissenc

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy pot or caldero, 5L
• •Fine sieve
• •Mortar and pestle or narrow jug with stick blender
• •30cm shallow rice pan or paella pan
• •Wide platter for the fish and potatoes

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the fish

   Sprinkle the serving fish with 8g of the salt and keep it cold while you make the broth. Soak the ñoras in warm water for 20 minutes, split them open, and scrape out the soft red pulp with the back of a knife. If you have only sweet pimentón, use it later in the sofrito, not in the soaking bowl, because paprika doesn't need softening.

2. 2

   Make the broth

   Put the fish bones, heads, or small rockfish in a wide pot with the cold water, onion, halved tomato, bay leaf, parsley stems, and 2 sliced garlic cloves. Bring it slowly to a gentle simmer, skim the grey foam, and cook 30 minutes only. Fish broth is not a beef stew; boil it hard or cook it for hours and it turns dull and bitter. Strain gently, without crushing the bones. You want about 2.1L broth; add a little water if you are short.

   If the fishmonger gives you clean heads and collars, take them. Bones make the broth taste of the sea in a way fillets never will.
3. 3

   Make the allioli

   Crush the 2 small garlic cloves in a mortar with 2g of salt until you have a smooth paste. Work in the egg yolk, then add the mild olive oil first by drops, then in a thin thread, stirring all the time until the sauce is thick enough to hold ridges. Stir in the lemon juice or vinegar at the end. If it splits, start a fresh yolk in a clean bowl and beat the split sauce into it spoon by spoon. Nadie nace sabiendo.

4. 4

   Cook the sofrito

   Warm 50ml of the extra virgin olive oil in a wide heavy pot over low heat. Add the remaining 2 minced garlic cloves and let them scent the oil without browning. Add 150g of the grated tomato, the pulp from 1 ñora, the saffron, and 2g of salt. Cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until the tomato is dark, thick, and the oil shows at the edges. This little sofrito, the slow tomato and garlic base, is where the sweetness enters the broth.

5. 5

   Cook the potatoes

   Add 1.2L of the strained broth to the sofrito and bring it to a steady simmer. Add the potatoes and cook 14 to 16 minutes, until a knife goes in but the centers still have a little resistance. They must be almost done before the fish goes in, because fish waits for nobody.

6. 6

   Poach the fish

   Lay the firmest fish pieces into the pot first, bone side down, then add the more delicate pieces after 3 minutes. Keep the broth at a low simmer, never a rolling boil, and cook 6 to 9 minutes more, depending on thickness. The fish is ready when the flakes just begin to open and the bone pulls cleanly. Do not stir with a spoon. Shake the pot by the handles if you need to settle things.

7. 7

   Serve first course

   Lift the fish and potatoes carefully onto a warm wide platter. Whisk 3 tablespoons of the allioli with 100ml of the cooking broth until pourable, then spoon it over the fish and potatoes. Scatter over the chopped parsley. Serve this first, with the rest of the allioli on the side. Keep all the remaining broth for the rice.

8. 8

   Start the rice

   Measure 900ml of broth for the rice and bring it to a boil in a small pan. In a 30cm shallow pan, warm the remaining 30ml olive oil. Add the remaining 100g grated tomato, the pulp from the second ñora, and 5g salt, then cook 6 to 8 minutes until thick. Stir in the rice for 1 minute so every grain shines with the oil and tomato.

9. 9

   Cook it dry

   Add the 900ml hot broth all at once and spread the rice flat. From this moment, do not stir. Cook 10 minutes over a lively heat, then 7 to 8 minutes lower, until the rice is just tender and the surface looks dry. Rest 5 minutes off the heat. This is arròs a banda, rice apart, the second turn of the same catch. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

Chef Tips

• •Buy fish with bones, heads, or collars. Fillets alone make a thin broth, no matter how carefully you cook them. Peix de roca, rockfish, is the Ibizan choice; far from the islands, monkfish, grouper, snapper, black sea bass, or sea bream are the honest substitutes.
• •Do not use oily fish here. Salmon, tuna, sardine, and mackerel make the broth heavy and the rice greasy. Good bullit tastes clean, garlicky, and deep, not fishy.
• •Ñora gives a sweet dried-pepper depth without much heat. If you cannot find it, use sweet pimentón, preferably not hot, and accept that the flavor will be more paprika than fruit. A substitute is a compromise, not a sin.
• •For allioli, a room-temperature yolk makes the sauce kinder to beginners. The old garlic-and-oil mortar version is beautiful, but it splits if you look at it crossly. Use pasteurized egg yolk if raw egg is a concern.
• •Use bomba or Calasparra for the rice. If you must use arborio, cook it the same way and do not stir, but expect a softer, creamier grain. That is what changes.
• •Drink a dry white from the Balearics if you can find one. A Galician albariño or a plain dry verdejo also does the job: cold, clean, and not sweet.

Advance Preparation

• •The fish broth can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Chill it quickly, covered, and lift off any set foam or fat before using.
• •The ñoras can be soaked and scraped earlier the same day. Keep the pulp covered with a spoon of olive oil so it does not dry out.
• •Allioli can be made up to 1 day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it close to room temperature before serving so it loosens properly with the broth.
• •Do not cook the rice ahead. It is the second course and should be made while the fish and potatoes are being eaten.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 900g)