Destination
Arequipa
The story
Arroz con mariscos is Peru's coastal rice-and-seafood centrepiece and one of the country's most-loved family Sunday dishes: long-grain rice cooked in a sofrito of onion, garlic, ají amarillo and ají panca, then topped with prawns, squid, mussels, clams and octopus, all bathed in a light seafood broth. The finished plate is Peruvian yellow-orange, deeply flavoured with chili, garlic and cilantro, and served with a boiled potato slice or a wedge of choclo corn on the side. Sold at every coastal Peruvian cebicheria and at every Sunday-lunch home in Lima, Trujillo and Piura.
Method
Warm oil in a wide heavy pot or paella pan over medium heat. Cook onion 6 minutes until soft. Add garlic 60 seconds. Add ají amarillo paste, ají panca paste, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, stirring, until deeply darkened and the oil separates.
Add the chopped fresh tomatoes. Cook 5 more minutes until the tomato breaks down and the sofrito is a thick red-orange paste.
Add the dry rice to the sofrito. Stir for 2 minutes so the rice grains are coated in oil and take on the sofrito colour.
Pour in the seafood stock, dark soy, wine and 1 tsp additional salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to a bare simmer.
Cover with a tight lid. Cook 18 to 20 minutes without stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is nearly cooked. Do not lift the lid during cooking.
Lift the lid. Distribute the prawns, squid, mussels and clams evenly across the top of the rice, pressing gently into the surface. Add octopus and fish if using. Cover again.
Cook 5 to 7 minutes over low heat until the prawns are pink and curled, the mussels and clams have opened (discard any unopened shells), and the squid is just cooked. Do not overcook — seafood tightens fast.
Off the heat, scatter with chopped coriander and squeeze lime juice generously across the top. Cover and rest 5 minutes. Serve directly from the pot at the table, portioning onto plates with a boiled potato slice and a chunk of corn on the side. Top each plate with a spoon of salsa criolla and extra lime wedges.
Tips
- Toast the rice in the sofrito. Two minutes of dry-cooking the rice in the aromatic sofrito is what gives the finished dish its Peruvian character. Skip and you have plain seafood rice.
- Don't lift the lid. Rice cooks by steam. Every lid lift lets steam escape and extends the cook time. Trust the timer.
- Layer the seafood, don't stir in. Distributing the seafood on top of the nearly-cooked rice and steaming for 5 minutes cooks everything gently. Stirring the seafood into the rice risks overcooking.
- Sillao is the Chifa touch. Peruvian dark soy sauce adds a specific umami depth that separates arroz con mariscos from Spanish paella. Kikkoman or any dark soy works as a substitute.
- Serve with salsa criolla. The acid-and-crunch of lime-marinated onion cuts the richness. Peruvian coastal restaurants always serve it on the side.
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