Arroz Negro is rice cooked in a fish stock & squid ink, with prawns & squid. It is very striking in appearance and tastes fantastic, it is rich in seafood flavour and served with alioli is the perfect taste of the sea. The quantities listed are for a dish for 6 people but feel free to halve the ingredients or multiply to feed a crowd. I have Paella pans in various sizes which makes cooking this very easy, use a large frying pan if you don't have a Paella pan. First you make a stock out of the prawn heads & shells, this is what gives the depth of flavour to the rice. There are many versions of this recipe out there, as with most rice dishes in Spain, this one is by Omar Allibhoy from his Tapas Revolution Book. If you love this recipe and are interested in buying his book, please click on the link.
Ingredients:
For the stock:
75ml olive oil
Prawn heads & shells (from prawns in main ingredients)
1 leek, chopped
1 whole head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
2 tbsps brandy
200ml white wine
2.5 litres water
For the rice:
150ml olive oil
1 kg fresh squid, cleaned & cut into small pieces
1 tbsp salt
1 red & 1 green pepper, de-seeded & finely chopped (if you don't have fresh peppers, you could use jarred roasted peppers but add when adding stock)
1/2 Spanish onion, finely chopped (or 1 brown onion if you can't get a Spanish onion)
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp sweet pimentón
Pinch of saffron strands
5 sachets of squid ink (1 sachet per 100g rice)
2 tomatoes, grated
500g Spanish rice such as Bomba or Calaparra
2 litres hot fish stock
1 kg large shell-on prawns, peeled (reserve head & shells for stock)
Note: I like to make the stock in the morning, chop & prepare the veg, weigh out the rice, get all ingredients ready so that everything is ready to start cooking 30mins before wanting to serve.
Method:
First, make the stock:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry prawn heads & shells over a high heat for a few minutes. Add chopped leek & head of garlic and cook for a few more minutes until golden in colour, add brandy & flambé (set light to pan with long matches or a lighter). When flames have died down, add wine & cook until reduced by half, then add water and bring back to the boil. Boil for 10 mins, remove from heat and puree until smooth using a hand blender (or in batches in a blender). Pass through a sieve. If using straight away, keep hot or if prepping in advance, leave to one side to re-heat later.
75ml olive oil, Prawn heads & shells, 1 leek chopped, 1 head of garlic, 2 tbsps brandy, 200ml white wine, 2.5 litres water |
For the rice:
If you have made your stock in advance put to reheat.
Heat a paella pan or large frying pan over a very high heat. When searingly hot, add the olive oil, salt & squid (the squid will release a lot of liquid, let this evaporate). When the liquid has evaporated, the squid will start frying and sticking to the bottom of the pan. (This is very important as it will concentrate the flavour) keep scraping the bottom of the pan to move the squid around so that it doesn't burn.
150ml olive oil, 1 kg fresh squid, cleaned & cut into small pieces, 1 tbsp salt |
When the squid is golden, add the peppers & onion and cook for 5 minutes until golden brown. Add garlic, fry for a couple of minutes then add sweet pimentón & saffron, stir well for 15 seconds. Add squid ink & tomato and cook until the liquid has reduced by half.
1 red & 1 green pepper de-seeded & finely chopped, 1/2 Spanish onion finely chopped, 8 cloves garlic finely chopped, 1 tsp sweet pimentón, a pinch of saffron strands, 5 sachets of squid ink, 2 tomatoes grated |
Add rice and stir for a couple of minutes to thoroughly coat in vegetables and squid ink, then add hot fish stock. Cook stirring frequently to prevent rice from sticking and burning on the bottom of the pan until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed 15-18 minutes. 4 minutes before end of cooking time, add peeled prawns.
500g Spanish rice, 2 litres hot fish stock, prawns that were peeled for stock |
Serve immediately with Alioli (click to see recipe)
If you are interested in buying the lovely Spanish Cookbook that this recipe was taken from, click here Tapas Revolution thank you, Jacqui
I recommend it as a very authentic and comprehensive guide to Spanish cookery
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