WEATHER FORECAST: COOK UP A STORM

The TV weather persons are on a roll. Their shivers of excitement are palpable as they announce “historic snowfalls,” “minus-15ºC temperatures” (centigrade),” “gale-force winds” and, in the south where I live, “aviso naranja” (orange alert) for heavy rainfall. Considering that most of the year the weather in Spain is so benign—blue skies and warm temps, day after day--that the forecasters might play a tape and go home early, they might be forgiven for thrilling to the extremes.

I’m shivering, too, just viewing the meter-long icicles hanging from weathered roofs in northern Spain and heaps of snow blocking the Puerta del Sol in the center of Madrid. So I looked to the northern cuisines for what to cook to ward off the chill. Zamora, a province in northwestern Spain in the Castilla y León region, is known for a robust rice dish chock full of meat and sausage. A far cry from sunny paella, arroz zamorano contains sausages, pork, ham and not a bit of saffron.

Zamora-style rice,  with pork and sausages, bakes in a cazuela. Just the meal for wintery weather.

When the rice is made for the annual matanza, or hog slaughtering, when hams are salted for curing, sausages hung to air-dry and fresh pork loin conserved in confit of lard, it might contain various pig parts—belly, feet, ears, snout—boiled to make a flavorful broth in which to cook the rice. An everyday version, without the feet and ears, can be made with pork loin, ham and sausages 

Pork belly (panceta) is fresh, unsalted, unsmoked bacon. It adds unctuousness to the rice. Chorizo adds more fat as well as color—ruddy pimentón with which the chorizo is seasoned. 

I started with a thick shoulder pork chop (chuleta de aguja). I cut out the bone and used it to make pork broth for cooking the rice. The meat I cut in bite-sized pieces and cooked with the rice instead of loin. The shoulder stays juicier than loin, in my opinion. 

A cazuela—earthenware cooking vessel—can be used, with great care, on a gas flame or, rustic style, in the hearth on a wood fire. Since I switched to an induction cooktop, I can no longer use my clay cazuelas on the stove. Two alternatives—cook the rice in a metal pan (such as a paella pan) on top of the stove or fry the meat and make the sofrito in a skillet and transfer them to a cazuela to bake in the oven. On this cold and rainy day, I’m opting for turning on the oven.

Calories to keep you warm! Pork belly and shoulder meat, link sausages and chorizo cook with the rice. A simple sofrito is the starting point.

A Tempranillo wine from D.O. Toro, Arribes or Tierra del Vino (wine regions of Zamora) would be perfect with the heart-warming rice dish.

Rice in Cazuela, Zamora Style

Cazuela de Arroz a la Zamorana

 

Use Spanish medium-grain, round rice, the same type as for paella, preferably the Bomba variety. Bomba rice is forgiving, cooking “al dente” without becoming mushy as other varieties can do if not carefully timed. Use double the quantity of liquid to the volume of rice, e.g., 3 cups broth to 1 ½ cups rice to produce a “dry” rice. If you prefer the rice a little juicier, meloso, add another ½ cup of broth during the last 5 minutes of baking. Don't stir the rice once it is distributed in the cazuela.

Vary the quantities of meat and sausage to suit yourself. Use loin instead of shoulder, if preferred. Include ham, if you like. Pieces of cooked and deboned pigs’ feet are authentic. 

Use either regular pimentón (paprika) or smoked pimentón. (I used ½ teaspoon sweet (dulce) smoked pimentón and ½ teaspoon hot (picante) smoked pimentón.)

If fresh tomatoes aren’t available, use 2 tablespoons of canned tomato sauce (tomate frito) or 2 teaspoons of concentrate stirred into ¼ cup of water. Canned pimiento can be substituted for the red bell pepper.

Serves 4-6.

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 links fresh pork sausage (6 ounces)

2 semi-cured chorizos (5-6 ounces), sliced

1 ½-inch slab of fresh or unsmoked bacon (panceta) 

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

8 ounces boneless pork shoulder

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon pimentón (paprika)

¼ cup white wine 

½ cup grated tomato pulp

1 ½ cups rice

3 cups pork bone broth or chicken stock (+ additional if needed)

Spigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

Brown sausages and panceta.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Fry the pork link sausages and sliced chorizo until they are browned. Remove them and reserve.

Slice the panceta crosswise into ½-inch strips. Fry them in the fat remaining in the skillet. Skim out when they are browned. 

Add the onion, garlic and red pepper to the skillet and sauté on medium heat 2 minutes. Cut the pork shoulder into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Add the pork to the skillet. When the pork is browned, stir in the pimentón. Immediately add the wine. Let the alcohol cook off. Add the tomato pulp. Cook the mixture 5 minutes, until most of the liquid has cooked away. 

Sofrito of onions, garlic and  red pepper.

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Bring the pork broth to a boil.

Stir the rice into the sofrito and pork in the skillet and cook 1 minute. Scrape the rice, pork and sofrito into an oven-safe cazuela. Spread it out. Tuck the link sausages, sliced chorizo and strips of panceta into the rice. Pour in 3 cups of the hot broth. Taste the liquid and add salt if necessary. Add sprigs of thyme and bay leaf to the cazuela. Very carefully transfer the cazuela to the oven.

Bake the rice, uncovered, 20 minutes or until most of liquid is absorbed. If you taste the rice it should be tender, but al dente. Remove the cazuela from the oven. Cover it with foil and allow it to set 5 minutes before serving.

More recipes for rice in cazuela:

Baked Rice with Sausage and Egg Crust.

Baked Rice with Seafood.

Everything you need to know about chorizo here.

More about cazuelas and clay pot cooking here.

SUSHI, OLÉ!

An afternoon's entertainment--creating sushi with Spanish flavors.

What a fun project for a day of kitchen quarantine! Make sushi! 

Rummaging in the nether regions of my cupboard, I pulled out a big bag, tightly knotted, of unknown contents. Opened, it revealed a dozen packets of various Japanese ingredients. Some had labels only in Japanese and others I identified by the photos on the package (instant dashi—Japanese stock/soup). Only the cellophane sleeves of nori, the algae wrap used for sushi, were obvious.

Spanish paella rice for sushi? Sure.

I’ve never made sushi before. I had frozen shrimp and squid, but no fresh fish for serving raw. I didn’t have any “sushi rice,” a Japanese short-grained variety. I wondered if Valencian paella rice, which is a medium-short-grained variety, would work instead. Considering paella rice, I thought, “why not add some saffron to the rice?” Roll it in nori around a few gambas (shrimp), calamares and strips of red pepper?

There were a few more adjustments. Not having a flexible bamboo mat for rolling, I improvised with a dampened kitchen towel. (An on-line suggestion to cover the towel with plastic wrap did not work, as the cling-film clung, tearing the sheet of nori.) And, with an induction cooktop, how to toast the nori? Another helpful online video showed how to toast the nori by passing it over the top of a bread toaster.

Unfortunately, no wasabi, that pungent green horseradish that adds such a kick to sushi, remained in the trove of Japanese foods. I decided to forego the soy dipping sauce too. Instead, I used Spanish flavors—a pungent alioli (garlic mayonnaise) made with olive oil, of course, and a sprinkling of smoked pimentón (hot paprika). Sushi olé!

Rolled sushi with saffron rice, shrimp and red peppers.  They're kind of raggedy for a first attempt--but taste great.

No wasabi! Instead, a dollop of garlicky alioli.

Rolled nori sushi, bottom right, and hand-pressed sushi with squid, pimentón and olive oil.

Spanish Sushi Rice
Arroz para Sushi al Español

Having never before made sushi, I referred to the instructions in Japanese Cooking—A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji.

Sushi rice is supposed to be light, but sticky enough to hold together when gently compressed. Spanish paella rice (sénia and bahía varieties) seems to work just fine. The rice is washed in several changes of water (unlike the procedure for cooking paella). It needs less cooking water—2 cups water to 1 ½ cups of raw rice. 

You’ll need a deep pot for cooking the rice, so that it doesn’t boil over (mine did) during the high heat initial step.

Sushi rice, by the book, is made with a vinegar dressing containing sugar. I omitted the sugar. I added 1 teaspoon of PX Sherry vinegar. The kombu (kelp) flavors the rice. Omit it if not available.

For the vinegar dressing:
4 tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon PX Sherry vinegar (optional)
3 tablespoons sugar (optional)

For the rice:
1 ½ cups paella rice
2 cups water
2-inch piece of kelp (kombu)
Pinch of saffron threads, crushed (optional)

Combine the vinegar, salt and sugar, if using, in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Cool completely.

Place the rice in a bowl and cover with water. Stir it around and drain through a fine sieve. Repeat, sluicing the rice in fresh water until the water runs clear (six to eight times). 

Place the rice in a deep cooking pot with the 2 cups of water. Add the kombu and stir in the crushed saffron, if using. Let the rice stand 5 minutes. Bring the water to a boil. Skim out the kombu and discard it. Cover the pot and boil the rice 2 minutes. Lower heat to medium and cook 5 minutes. Reduce heat to very low and cook until all the water has been absorbed, 10-12 minutes more. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand with lid on for 15 minutes.

Fan the rice to cool it. This sushi rice has saffron!

Empty the rice into a shallow wooden or plastic bowl or tray. Use a wooden paddle or spoon to gently toss the rice, scooping it with horizontal, cutting strokes. Drizzle over some of the vinegar dressing and continue tossing. Alternate fanning the rice with a hand-fan (or folded newspaper) and tossing, while adding all of the dressing. Once the rice has cooled to room temperature, cover with a damp cloth until ready to use. 

Rolled Nori Sushi with Shrimp

When working with the rice, dip your hands in vinegar-water to keep the rice from sticking. Dip the knife in water when slicing the rolls.

I’ve used shrimp, red peppers and cucumbers for crunch in my “Spanish” sushi. 

8 ounces whole small shrimp
Salt
Ice water
Roasted and peeled red pepper or canned pimiento
½ cucumber
Sliced olives (optional)
3 nori sheets, toasted
¼ cup water
2 teaspoons vinegar
Sushi rice

To keep shrimp from curling during cooking, skewer them with a toothpick (optional). Bring a pan of salted water to a boil. Have ready a bowl with ice water. Cook the shrimp for 2 minutes. Skim them out into the ice water to stop the cooking. When they are cool, drain and peel them (taking care to discard picks).

Cut red pepper into thin strips. Peel cucumber and cut lengthwise into thin strips. 

Combine the water and vinegar in a shallow bowl and place it next to work surface.

Spread bamboo mat (or substitute a slightly dampened towel) on work surface). Lay a sheet of nori on top. Dip hands in vinegar-water. Scoop up a handful of rice and pat it over the surface of the nori, leaving the top ¼ uncovered.

To spread the rice, dip hands in vinegar-water to avoid its sticking.

Lay a row of shrimp, strips of red pepper, olives and cucumber across the bottom of the nori sheet. Hold the row of ingredients in place with fingertips and use your thumbs to lift the edge of the mat. The edge of the nori nearest you should be lifted over to meet the top edge of the nori sheet. 

Firmly press the mat around the roll for about 30 seconds to shape it. Carefully release the sushi roll from the mat onto a cutting board. Use a wet knife to slice each roll in half and each half into 3 or 4 crosswise pieces. Arrange them, cut sides up, on a serving platter.

Hand-Pressed (Spanish) Sushi with Squid

The classic nigiri-sushi usually features raw fish such as tuna, bream or salmon. I had squid fins in the freezer, so that’s what I used. (Any part of the squid can be used.) Use a sharp knife to score the flesh in a cross-hatch. Drop into lightly salted boiling water for 30 seconds. Squid will curl into a cone. Skim out and drop into ice water. Drain and cut the squid into small pieces.

Sushi rice
Vinegar-water for dipping hands (see above)
Cooked squid
Smoked pimentón, preferably hot
Coarse salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Alioli (optional)

Dip hands in the vinegar-water and scoop up about 1 ½ tablespoons of rice. Press gently into a wad. Shape it into a rectangular finger shape. Press a piece of squid into the top. Place on a tray and sprinkle with pimentón and salt. Drizzle lightly with oil. Transfer to a serving platter. Top with a dab of alioli, if desired.

Sushi “Paella” (Scattered Sushi)

Is it paella? No, it's a rendition of scattered sushi, using saffron rice.

Sushi rice with saffron
Cooked shrimp
Cooked squid
Strips of red pimiento
Cooked peas
Sliced black olives
Peeled lemon sections

Lightly pack the rice into a shallow bowl. Scatter the shrimp, squid, pimiento, peas, olives and lemon on top. 

Japanese Cooking—A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji (Kodansha International; 1980).

More recipes with kombu and nori seaweed here.

RICE "ON THE SIDE"

Last week, after filleting a whole corvina, I saved the head, bones and trimmings to make fish stock. Usually I stash stock in the freezer, ready for making one of my favorite Spanish fish soups. This time I decided to use that pot of concentrated flavor for a Spanish rice dish that’s not paella.

Flavorful rice and not much else.

Arroz abanda (in Alicante lingo, it’s arròs a banda) means rice “on the side.” It’s sort of like paella but without all the baroque trimmings. Originally it was a simple fisherman’s dish cooked on board a trawler. Some of the day’s catch was boiled in a pot, then skimmed out. Rice was added to cook in the tasty broth. The rice was served first, followed by the boiled fish.

The dish has since achieved near-cult status, especially in the provincial city of Alicante, where the rice is usually prepared in a paella pan instead of a fisherman’s kettle. It can be served in solitary splendor as a starter or as a side dish with fish cooked simply. A pungent alioli (garlic sauce) is the only accompaniment.

The success of arroz abanda depends on starting with a flavor-packed fish stock. You’ll find a basic recipe here. Use small, whole fish; trimmings from larger fish; crustacean shells; clam or mussel juices.

About Spanish rice. Spanish rice, the kind used for paella, is a round-grained, medium-short variety. Spanish rice has a white perla (pearl), where the starch is concentrated. Its great virtue is as a flavor conductor, soaking up the savory juices with which the rice cooks—olive oil sofrito, chicken, rabbit or seafood,  saffron. Spanish (often called “Valencian”) rice is similar to Italian varieties used for risotto. But the cooking method is totally different. Risotto is stirred to develop the creamy starch. Paella rice, cooked “dry,” is never stirred, as stirring would break up the starch kernel.

Bomba is one of several varieties of rice grown in Spain (it may be from the region called Calasparra). Bomba rice is especially esteemed for caldoso (soupy) and meloso, juicy, rice dishes because the kernel of starch doesn’t burst open and make the rice sticky. Bomba rice is absolutely not necessary for paella.

But, for this recipe, if possible use the bomba variety of rice because it will absorb more of that flavorful fish stock (use triple the volume of liquid to rice). If using varieties other than bomba, decrease the quantity of stock, using approximately double the volume of liquid to rice.

Ñoras are small dried peppers.

The traditional recipe calls for the pulp of a ñora, a bittersweet dried red pepper, the same pepper used to make pimentón (paprika). If not available, substitute a spoonful of sweet pimentón, stirred with a little water to make a paste. Saffron is optional; it adds that vibrant golden color.

Fry shrimp shells for flavor.

In addition to the fish stock, this recipe also calls for flavoring the cooking oil with shrimp shells and heads. If you haven’t got heads and shells, just omit this step. And, instead of a sofrito of chopped vegetables, it calls for a picada of tomatoes, ñora, garlic and parsley crushed in a mortar or blender.

Arroz Abanda
Rice on the Side

A few shrimp and pieces of squid for a tasty rice dish.

Serves 6 as a starter or side dish.

2 ñoras (or 2 teaspoons pimentón)
¼ cup boiling water
12 ounces small unpeeled shrimp (or 6 ounces peeled)
2 small tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic
Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces squid, cut in rings
Pinch of saffron threads (optional)
2 cups medium-short rice, preferably bomba variety
5 ½-6 cups fish stock, heated
Alioli (garlic mayonnaise) to serve

Remove stem and seeds from the ñoras. Place one of them in a small bowl and add boiling water. Allow to soak 30 minutes.

Peel the shrimp, reserving both the bodies and the heads and shells.

Ingredients for a picada to flavor the rice.

Make the picada. Open the soaked ñora and, with the side of a spoon, scoop the pulp from the skin. Discard the skin and add the pulp to a mortar or blender. (Add the soaking liquid to the stock pot.) Add the tomatoes, garlic, parsley and ½ teaspoon salt to the pulp of the ñora. Crush or blend to make a smooth paste.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a paella pan, cazuela or skillet. Add the reserved shrimp heads and shells. Sautée until shells turn pink. Skim out the heads and shells and discard them, reserving the oil.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add the remaining ñora and fry it on all sides. Remove the ñora and reserve. Add the tomato-garlic paste to the pan and sautée, stirring. Add the squid rings and the saffron threads.

Stir in the rice and let it sautée a few minutes. Add the hot stock. Cook the rice on a high heat for 8 minutes. Taste and add additional salt if needed. Stir in the reserved shrimp. Return the fried ñora to the pan, placing it in the center of the rice. Lower the heat and cook until rice is cooked, 15-18 minutes longer. Let the rice set 5 minutes before serving. Serve accompanied by alioli.

Serve rice with alioli--garlic mayonnaise.

Alioli
Garlic Mayonnaise

This is not a true alioli, which is an emulsion of crushed garlic and olive oil. But this simplified version is quick and delicious.

½ cup bottled mayonnaise
1-2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt, if needed

Place the mayonnaise, garlic, oil and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and add salt if necessary. Keeps, refrigerated, up to 1 week.