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1
Build the Ají Sofrito
10 Mins
Medium heat, ~175°C (350°F)
Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot. Cook the yellow onion and red pepper for 5 minutes until soft, then add the garlic, cumin, ají amarillo and ají panca pastes and cook for 2 minutes more until fragrant. Stir in the grated tomato and cook until the mixture thickens and darkens slightly.
Let the pastes fry in the oil — raw chilli paste tastes flat and harsh.
Done when: A thick, orange-red sofrito that smells sweet and smoky.
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2
Toast the Rice and Deglaze
5 Mins
Medium-high heat, ~190°C (375°F)
Stir the rinsed rice into the sofrito and cook for 2 minutes, coating every grain in the red oil. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble away almost completely.
Coating the rice in oil first keeps the grains separate in the finished dish.
Done when: Glossy, orange-stained rice with the wine smell gone.
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3
Simmer in Seafood Stock
18 Mins
Low simmer, ~95°C (200°F)
Pour in the hot seafood stock and the salt, stir once, and bring to a gentle boil. Cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Scatter the peas over the top for the last 3 minutes.
Do not stir while the rice simmers — stirring breaks the grains and makes the rice sticky.
Done when: Rice nearly tender, with small steam holes on the surface and almost no liquid left.
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4
Fold in the Seafood
7 Mins
Low heat, ~90°C (195°F)
Lay the fish chunks, shrimp, squid rings and mussels over the rice, cover again, and cook for 5–7 minutes until the shrimp are pink, the squid is opaque and the fish flakes easily. The fish must reach 63°C (145°F).
Seafood overcooks in minutes, so start checking at 5 minutes.
Done when: Pink shrimp, opaque squid rings and fish that flakes with a fork.
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5
Rest, Then Toss Gently
5 Mins
Off the heat, ~80°C (175°F)
Take the pot off the heat and rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice gently with a fork, folding the seafood through without breaking the fish.
Resting lets the last steam finish the rice evenly.
Done when: Fluffy, golden rice with seafood folded through, not mashed.
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6
Serve with Salsa Criolla
5 Mins
Room temperature, ~20°C (68°F)
Toss the rinsed red onion rings with the lime juice, a pinch of salt and half the cilantro for the salsa criolla. Spoon the rice onto warm plates, top with the salsa and the remaining cilantro, and serve with lime wedges.
Serve at once — seafood rice firms up and dries out as it sits.
Done when: Golden rice mounded on the plate, topped with bright red onion and green cilantro.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve the rice hot, straight from the pot, with the salsa criolla spooned over each plate at the table. A final squeeze of lime over the top wakes up all the seafood flavours.
Peru
35m
