Arroz a banda recipe with allioli

Arroz a banda is won or lost in the stock, and the stock in the fish. This recipe follows the classic order: first a short stock with the rockfish and only then the rice. To see how rice reached this coast, read our history of rice in Spain.

The stock and where the proportion comes from

The stock is made with potato, onion, unpeeled garlic and bay leaf, and the fish goes in when the rest is almost done. Martí Domínguez’s book mentions one to one and a half kilos of mixed rockfish (scorpionfish, blackbelly rosefish, monkfish, weever) and ten to fifteen minutes of cooking. No more is needed: rockfish gives up what it has very quickly.

The proportion deserves an explanation. You will see different figures around: Directo al Paladar uses three times as much stock as rice and Martí Domínguez’s book uses twice. We have gone with the latter because it is the base source’s and because the Turismo de Alicante guide uses the same in its Alicante rice. For 400 g of rice, about 800 ml. In a fish rice dish the stock is the star, so don’t overdo the water when you make it: a stretched stock turns out thin.

If you already have a fumet made, use it in the same quantity: the recipe card works it out for you. You save the first step, but you lose the banda.

The banda: what is served apart and how

The fish you take out of the stock isn’t thrown away. Boned and with its potato and onion, it makes a second course, dressed with allioli or another of the sauces Martí Domínguez mentions: vinaigrette, mayonnaise, romesco. The original version, according to Turespaña, served only the rice; the fish could be eaten separately. What doesn’t change is the split: rice in the pan and fish on another dish, never mixed together. For another fish dish with a picada of almond, garlic and bread, try the suquet de peix from Vinaròs.

Allioli isn’t compulsory either, but in many homes it is part of the ritual: the rice is eaten stirred in with a little. And lemon wedges on the table freshen up a dish that, being so intense, benefits from them.

Paella pan, heat and a dry finish

It is made in a wide paella pan, with the rice in a thin layer spread over the whole surface. The sofrito goes in this order: garlic that doesn’t get as far as browning, tomato, onion and baby cuttlefish, and the ñora paste last, which we take from the Turespaña recipe. High heat when the stock goes in, and gentler and gentler as the grain dries. It works well with bomba rice or a similar round-grain rice. Once the stock is in, don’t stir: what counts is letting the rice cook by itself; any toasted layer left at the bottom is the socarrat. If you are interested in the difference between dry, creamy and soupy, you will find it in creamy, soupy and dry rice.

A note on the name: in Murcia, “arroz a banda” doesn’t mean this dish; the entry what arroz a banda is explains the mix-up.

Mistakes you pay for on the plate

• Weak stock. If the stock is made from rockfish that isn’t very fresh or ends up tasteless, the rice tastes of nothing. Better a little stock, and good.
• Burnt ñora. Fry it just enough; if it darkens, it turns the whole sofrito bitter.
• Overcooked rice. When there are only a few minutes left, taste the grain. If it is already done, take the pan off the heat: the resting will do the rest.
• Too much in the pan. The more that goes in, the less room there is for the grain. In arroz a banda, the fish is outside for a reason.

If there are lots of you at the table

The stock is prepared in advance and the rice is made live, in large paella pans with the heat well spread. To work out the shopping, there is the guide to how much rice per person. And if there are 40 or more of you, we cook rice for groups live: it is all in paella and show cooking.