Brothy rice with chicken and rabbit (arroz caldoso)
Yield: 4 servings
Are there 40 or more of you? We cook rice dishes live for groups
Large paella pans need less liquid. Sources
Ingredients
Rice
- 300 gRound-grain rice (senia, albufera or bomba)
- to tasteHot water
- to tasteSaffron or food colouring
- to tasteSalt
carne y verdura
- 8 pcsChicken, jointed
- 8 pcsRabbit, jointed
- 100 gFlat green beans
- 75 gValencian garrofón (butter beans)
- 1 pcsRipe tomato, grated
- 0.5 tspSweet paprika
- to tasteOlive oil
Ingredients
Steps
- 1Season the 8 pcs and the 8 pcs, chop the 100 g and grate the 1 pcs.
- 2Heat a little to taste in a deep pot or casserole and brown the chicken first, as it is denser. Then add the rabbit and brown it well: well-browned meat is what gives the rice its flavour.
- 3Add the beans and fry them for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato. If the 75 g is fresh, add it now along with the beans.3 min
- 4When the tomato is almost fried, add the 0.5 tsp, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Pour in the hot to taste and check the level: add a little more, because it will evaporate.
- 5When it comes to the boil, add the to taste and cook over a medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes.28 min
- 6Adjust the water and the to taste. Add the 300 g (if the garrofón is frozen, add it now) and cook it for 15 to 18 minutes, until it is just right.17 min
- 7Take it off the heat and let it rest for a couple of minutes before serving.2 min
The spoon finish
In a brothy rice the stock isn’t surplus: it is part of the dish. There has to be enough liquid to eat it with a spoon, and the grain has to be whole, soft outside and with a little firmness inside. There is no socarrat and none is wanted. To place it between dry and creamy rice dishes, the guide is in the glossary: creamy, soupy and dry rice.
That is why it is made in a deep pot or casserole and not in a paella pan: the thin layer of rice in a paella is no use here, where you need depth for so much water.
Four parts water and a rice that holds up
The proportion comes first: about four times the volume of the rice in hot water. That is the figure in the recipe El Español published in January 2025, and it matches what the glossary gives for brothy rice. Check the level before the rice goes in: the recipe insists that it evaporates.
The rice is round-grain: senia, albufera or bomba. The recipe doesn’t ask for a designation, but Turisme Comunitat Valenciana recommends bomba protected by the PDO Arroz de Valencia.
Chicken and rabbit, flat green beans and garrofón
The meat is browned in order: chicken first, as it is denser, then the rabbit. This is the part that gives the flavour, so don’t rush it. Two pieces of each per guest is the measure in the recipe.
The vegetables are those of the paella: flat green beans and garrofón, the Valencian butter bean. Fresh garrofón goes in at the start, with the beans; frozen, after the rice, so it doesn’t break up. The rest is sofrito: grated tomato and paprika, added last and stirred constantly so it doesn’t burn.
There are variations. Turisme Comunitat Valenciana adds rosemary and says no stock is used, that the flavour comes from the sofrito. And some people add pilotes de Nadal, the Christmas meatballs that many homes make in quantity and freeze for brothy rice dishes, according to Directo al Paladar.
What sets it apart from paella
Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, with the recipe from the Balcón del Vedat restaurant in Torrent, says it is very like paella and shares a good part of its ingredients: chicken, rabbit, bajoqueta (flat green bean), garrofón, tomato and paprika. The difference is in the water and the time. In a paella the rice ends up in a thin, dry layer; here a stock is first cooked with the meat and vegetables for 25 to 30 minutes, and the rice goes in afterwards, with that flavour already made. The glossary gives the liquid figure for brothy rice, around four parts to one of rice, compared with two and a half for creamy rice.
That is why brothy rice is a rice for a spoon and a soup plate, for when it is cold and you want something comforting. It is served at once, piping hot.
Typical mistakes
- Running short of water. Brothy rice needs more liquid than it seems; with too little, you get a creamy rice.
- Leaving the rice unattended. It takes 15 to 18 minutes, and the time depends on the variety and the heat.
- Trusting the advertised time. The El Español article says 30 minutes, but between the stock and the rice the recipe takes nearly an hour. Allow for it.
- Resting it too long. The recipe lets it rest for only a couple of minutes; with the stock in the casserole the grain keeps cooking.
For a few or for a crowd
For a table of four, 300 g of rice and a deep casserole. If there are more of you, the quantities of rice per person for groups are in how much rice per person.
To compare with a dry casserole rice, there is the baked rice. And if the paella sofrito interests you as a starting point, see the paella sofrito and the Valencian paella.
If there are 40 or more of you and you want rice cooked in front of everyone, we cook rice for groups live.
History and variations
It is a home-style rice in the paella family, but with more water and without making a stock beforehand. It is made with chicken and rabbit, flat green beans and garrofón, and Turisme Comunitat Valenciana presents it as a dish from home that brings back childhood. For the definition of brothy, creamy and dry rice, see the glossary.
Valencian Community: Turisme Comunitat Valenciana adds rosemary and uses no stock: the flavour comes from the sofrito. Sources
Tips
Brown all the meat well, starting with the chicken: it is what gives the rice its flavour. Sources
Check the water level before the rice goes in and add a little more, because it evaporates as it cooks. Sources
The flavour comes from a good sofrito, not from shop-bought stock: that is the starting point set by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana. Sources
Brothy rice with chicken and rabbit (arroz caldoso)
Frequently asked questions
What rice is best for brothy rice?
A round-grain rice from the Valencian family: senia, albufera or bomba. Turisme Comunitat Valenciana recommends bomba with the Protected Designation of Origin Arroz de Valencia. In a brothy rice the grain spends a long time in the liquid, and a firm, round-grain rice holds up better without falling apart. For the varieties in detail, see the bomba rice glossary entry.
What’s the trick to keeping the rice brothy?
The proportion: about four times the volume of the rice in hot water. Before the rice goes in, check the level and add a little more, because it evaporates as it boils. And cook it only as long as the recipe asks, 15 to 18 minutes, because with plenty of stock the grain keeps swelling on the plate and can overcook.
What is the difference between brothy rice and risotto?
Risotto is Italian: the stock is added ladle by ladle and stirred so the grain releases its starch, as Directo al Paladar explains. In the Valencian brothy rice all the liquid goes in at once: first the water is cooked with the meat and the sofrito, and the rice goes into that stock once it is made. You get a rice with plenty of stock, to eat with a spoon; risotto comes out creamy.
Sources
Glossary terms
Recipes
Arròs amb fesols i naps (rice with beans and turnips)
Arròs amb fesols i naps is a Valencian pot rice: pork, white beans, pencas and turnip cooked slowly, and the rice added at the end, without overdoing it.
Total time: 796 min
Valencian baked rice
Baked rice, or arròs al forn, is a dry earthenware-dish rice with pork ribs, black pudding, chickpeas and potato, finished in the oven until golden.
Total time: 25 min
Sofrito for Valencian paella
The sofrito for Valencian paella is made in the paella pan itself: browned meat, tomato cooked slowly and the paprika last, taking care it doesn’t burn.
Total time: 8 min
Valencian paella
Valencian paella with chicken, rabbit, flat green beans and garrofó for 4, using Turisme Comunitat Valenciana’s water-mark method and a final rest.
Total time: 60 min