Rice with monkfish and prawns

How to make a rice with monkfish and prawns . The rice recipe today is very simple, rice honeyed “to Mariñeira”.

A rice that although it only has 3 ingredients with the flavor of the sea, monkfish or peixe-toad, prawns and a little squid, is incredibly good. Of the best mariñeiros rice that I know.

It is still a simple rice with seafood and fish but adding more fish stock.

This fish rice or rice a mariñeira was a typical food of the fishermen of the Galician estuaries, who prepared in the same boat with the fish they found or were not going to sell in the fish market.

At first, it was even possible to substitute part of the broth for sea water (so it was not necessary to add salt to the rice) and to say that it was a humble meal. Now it has become a highly prized and high-cost meal.

As it is such a sweet rice , this time, the result is juicy and tasty. The rice with which we have prepared this rice is the SOS special broth rice that always gives us such good results.

In Catalonia there is a typical dish close to this: ” Les sopes arrossejades” As there is also an important seafaring tradition in these lands (although the Mediterranean is not so fierce with the Atlantic), fishermen also cooked on the boat taking advantage of what they had caught and they had some fantastic stews.

Before cooking, preparing the prawns

Before starting the recipe we must clean the prawns and  prepare a good fish broth  that we can then use for this or other recipes. In this case we are going to use both, that of the monkfish fumet (which I will explain later) and that of the prawns.

1. We peel them, remove the head and the shell that protects them. We start with the head that is the most flavorful, making a simple rotation we easily detach it, we reserve it to fry or cook and thus get the shrimp fumet.
2. Then, from the lower part of the belly, where the legs are, we remove with our hands the different rings or shell that cover the body along with the legs. Once the prawns are peeled we must remove the intestine (a black thread that they have inside) that we must remove with the help of a toothpick or the tip of a knife.
3. With the toothpick we prick the end of the intestine that is visible and pull it. It should come out whole, as if it were a thread, without opening the shrimp, so that it does not lose juice and flavors during the preparation.
4. We dry and reserve the prawns for the rice.

Preparation of the fish broth

1. We are going to prepare a quality fish stock or fumet , a fundamental part of the recipe’s success. We chose a large casserole where we put the head and the central bones of the fish. This liquid is the most precious part of the recipe and it will give it all the flavor of the sea.
2. Add about 2 liters of water and bring to a boil. When we see the first bubbles, we go down to low heat and salt to taste. We cook for 20 minutes. We are not going to spend time cooking because if the bones are broken they can add a bad taste to the fumet.
3. Occasionally we remove the foam that is forming on the surface. Strain and reserve.

Preparation of the sea rice base

1. Peel the garlic cloves and chop as best as possible. We reserve.
2. Chop the onions and red peppers very fine so that they melt in the cooking. It is important that its texture is not noticed but the flavor it gives to rice is.
3. We wash the mushrooms very well, dry and chop into quarters. We reserve.
4. Add the oil to the casserole. When the oil is hot, fry the vegetables and mushrooms, this process takes about 10 minutes over high heat, always stirring carefully.
5. We throw the tomato very chopped and without skin (we can blanch them before in hot water) or we grate the tomato as you can see in the video, we have to do it when the previous vegetable is already poached so that it does not burn.
6. Add the white wine and stir slowly until reduced, even so it has to be like a thick sauce.
7. Cut the squid into equal pieces. We remove the skin from the monkfish, you can also ask the fishmonger.
8. In a frying pan we pass the pieces of monkfish and the prawns. Just seal them so they don’t lose a lot of substance.
9. We reserve for the end of cooking the rice. The prawns and the pieces of monkfish are the last thing to add to the rice. Add the squid to the casserole and spend them with the vegetable for about 5 minutes at medium temperature.

Rice preparation and final presentation

1. We introduce the rice and stir everything gently so that it is well impregnated with the stew and absorbs the flavor. Leave for 5 more minutes on medium heat.
2. For the issue of bomba rice in broth rice, the exact measurements are 3 and a half parts of broth for every 1 rice.
3. If we see that the rice is a little hard but the casserole is running out of enough liquid, we will gradually add more water until it is ready.
4. Once the rice has absorbed all the flavor of the stew we add the fumet to the casserole. We raise the temperature to the maximum until it begins to boil. Then we lower it in half and let it be done little by little. This process takes about 16-17 minutes for this type of preparation.
5. In the last 2-3 minutes of cooking add the pieces of monkfish and the prawns.
6. We rectify the amount of liquid with water and we are testing the rice. Each rice is a world and the bomba rice is special.
7. This variety differs from the rest in that it is a grain that does not break when cooked but bulges, reaching up to 3 times its size, thus allowing it to be loose and whole. It has the property of being the rice that best absorbs the flavors and aromas of the broth ingredients.
8. We remove from the fire and let stand 10 minutes.