Arroz a banda. Traditional Valencian recipe in a paella pan
Para 6 3.5 €/pers. 245 kcal/100g.
- 600g of La Fallera bomba rice
- 350 g of diced cuttlefish
- 1 kg of prawns or shrimp
- 1 and 1/2 liters of fish stock (rockfish, crustaceans, monkfish, mantis shrimp, small fish,…) or a fish fumet (in this case with fish and prawns)
- 4 grated tomatoes (the real kind)
- Saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
- 100 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- Salt (to taste, don't overdo it as it's already a very flavorful rice)
- Alioli to accompany (Optional)
- Peel the prawns, removing the heads and shells. Start with the heads, as they have the most flavor; a simple twist will easily detach them. Set them aside to fry or boil to make a good fumet or seafood stock.
- Then, starting from the underside of the belly, where the legs are, we remove with our hands the various rings or shells that cover the body along with the legs.
- Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the shells and heads. Remove from the heat and stir in a teaspoon of paprika. Mix well and add about 2 liters of water. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes. If you have monkfish bones or other fish scraps, add them in.
- We can even blend everything with a chinois or by pressing it through a sieve to extract more flavor. Strain everything well and keep it warm for the rice. Once the prawns are peeled, we must remove the vein (a dark thread inside). Set aside.
- In a paella pan, add extra virgin olive oil and the cuttlefish (previously diced). Sauté over medium heat, then add the diced prawns or shrimp (which you set aside). Stir well to combine the flavors.
- Once the rice has browned, add the peeled and grated tomato to the paella. Sauté with the other ingredients; this process takes about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. At this point, it smells so good you'd eat it without the rice.
- We add the rice and gently mix everything together so that it is well coated with the stew and absorbs the flavor, stirring until the rice becomes pearly.
- Let it simmer for another 5 minutes over medium heat. For bomba rice, the exact ratio is 2 1/2 parts water to 1 part rice. Add the saffron (previously toasted) and sweet paprika, frying gently to prevent burning, as this can make it bitter.
- Once the rice has absorbed all the flavor of the ingredients, add the fish stock to the paella. In this case, there are 600g of rice, so we will need to add 1.5 liters of fish stock.
- We turn the heat up to high until it starts to boil. Then we reduce it to medium and let it simmer gently; this process takes between 15 and 20 minutes. It all depends on the heat; it's usually 15 minutes for soupy rice and 18 minutes for dry rice.
- Halfway through cooking, we taste the broth and adjust the salt. After fifteen minutes, the liquid should have been absorbed and the rice should still be slightly firm. This is when the famous socarrat begins to form.
- Remove from the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered with clean cloths. The rice will finish cooking and the socarrat will develop off the heat. And that's it! Serve it freshly made and generously.
- To prepare a good arroz a banda, we don't need to rush, that's why I recommend it as a weekend rice dish.
- To remove the prawns' veins, use a toothpick or the tip of a knife. Pierce the exposed end of the vein with the toothpick and pull it out. It should come out whole, like a thread, without needing to cut the prawn open, so it doesn't lose juices and flavor during cooking. Discard the vein because it has a bitter taste and may contain sand or the last bits the prawn ate.
- You can make the fumet with a lot of rockfish, mantis shrimp, the heads and shells of prawns or shrimp and some vegetables.
- Arroz a banda is a very tasty fish rice dish, perhaps my favorite. Traditionally, it's served with a good aioli (garlic mayonnaise).
- And, strictly adhering to tradition, the fish used in the paella should also be prepared "a banda," which in Valencian means "aside" or "to one side." Once the rice is spread in the paella pan, it should be stirred as little as possible. Otherwise, it will release its starch, and the grains will not remain separate.
This is a traditional rice recipe that's a hit throughout the Levante region. Until recently, I didn't dare try this type of recipe, as it's important to get the rice just right. You also need to know exactly which ingredients to use and respect the traditional method. For this rice dish, I've relied on La Fallera bomba rice, which always gives me such great results.
Arroz a banda has very humble origins; it was prepared by fishermen with leftover fish. It was a kind of stew served on the boat and eaten on deck. It was served in two parts: one with the fish scraps left over from making the broth, seasoned with aioli or salmorret sauce. Then there was the separate arroz a banda (rice cooked separately in a cauldron) which was boiled with the fish broth.
The current recipe bears little resemblance to the one prepared in the past, which was more of a soupy rice dish than a paella. Every year we spend our summers in Dénia, and it's undoubtedly where I've eaten the best arroz a banda. For them, it's a sophisticated and expertly prepared dish, a true art form, and it's there that I learned to make it, just as I present it to you here: without onion, garlic, dried red peppers, or many other ingredients. I encourage you to try making it and let me know if you like it this way.
If you'd like to compare this rice dish with other preparations, visit our collection of paellas and other rice dishes.
Preparing the broth or fumet for the rice
We will always start with the fish stock or fumet and then the rest of the rice will come.
