TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Arroz negroCuttlefish Black Rice
Rice absorbs the flavour of cuttlefish and fish stock, while ink turns it a deep black. Starting with homemade stock, this rice dish combines the aroma of the sea with distinct, firm grains.
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Ingredients (4 servings)
- Round-grain rice (Bomba)320 g
- Cleaned cuttlefish500 g
- Cuttlefish or squid ink for cookingInk intended for cooking.16 g
- White fish bones and trimmings600 g
- Long green onion (white part)100 g
- Onion120 g
- Garlic10 g
- Tomato180 g
- Olive oil60 ml
- Water1.6L for the stock and 200ml to adjust the volume.1800 ml
- Salt7 g
Method
Prepare the fish trimmings and cuttlefish
- 1 Remove the gills and clotted blood from 600g white fish trimmings and rinse under running water.
- 2 Cut 100g long green onion into 3cm pieces and finely chop 120g onion and 10g garlic.
- 3 Check that 500g cuttlefish has no remaining cartilage or beak; cut the body into 2cm squares and the tentacles into 3cm lengths.
- 4 Halve and grate 180g tomato, leaving the skin behind.
Ready when
Continue when no clotted blood remains on the fish trimmings and the hard parts have been removed from the cuttlefish.
Make a clear fish stock
- 1 Put the fish trimmings, long green onion and 1.6L water in a pot over medium heat.
- 2 Skim, simmer over low heat for 20 minutes and strain through a fine sieve.
- 3 Measure out 1.1L stock, topping up any shortfall from the 200ml adjustment water, and keep warm.
Ready when
Continue when the stock is pale and no longer smells of raw fish.
Build the cuttlefish and tomato flavours
- 1 Heat 60ml oil in a shallow 32cm pan and sauté the cuttlefish over medium heat for 4 minutes.
- 2 Add the onion and garlic and cook for 6 minutes, then add the tomato and reduce for 5 minutes.
Ready when
Continue when the cuttlefish is white on the surface and the tomato has reduced to a cohesive mixture.
Dissolve the ink in the stock and cook the rice
- 1 Completely dissolve 16g ink in 1.1L warm stock.
- 2 Add 320g rice to the pan and sauté for 1 minute, then add the ink stock and 7g salt.
- 3 Spread the rice evenly and cook without stirring over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, then over low heat for 10–12 minutes.
Ready when
Continue when the rice is evenly black, the cooking liquid has disappeared and no hard centre remains.
Rest the black rice
- 1 Turn off the heat, cover with a clean cloth and leave for 5 minutes.
- 2 Remove the cloth and serve in the pan.
Ready when
It is ready when the grains remain intact, moist and separate.
About this dish
The Mediterranean coast stretching from Valencia to Catalonia has a wide variety of rice dishes. Among those made with seafood stock, arroz negro, coloured black with ink, has a particularly distinctive appearance.
Valencia’s tourism guide presents it as a rice dish made with cuttlefish ink. Farther north, in the Empordà region of the Costa Brava, there is also an arroz negro made with slowly cooked onion and squid ink.
On the Costa Brava, port towns such as Cadaqués and Calella de Palafrugell retain their fishing heritage, and restaurants serve seafood rice dishes and stews. Even within black rice dishes, local coastal ingredients and ways of cooking find expression.
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