Arroz a banda (vegan seafood paella)

My vegan recipe of a seafood paella made with seaweed stock, and served with aioli, which transforms this dish into a creamy garlicky risotto.


Hola!

Today I bring you my plant-based take on another Spanish paella dish typical from the Mediterranean coast. In Spanish is called arroz a banda and the original recipe is a rice paella dish made with fish stock and peeled seafood. The most distinctive feature about it is that it’s served with aioli! For those garlic fans out there like me, or if you find paella rice a bit dry for your standards, the addition of aioli as a dressing makes it creamy like some sort of risotto but not as sticky as. It is such an explosion of garlicky-vegan-seafood in your mouth, with a luscious rich texture hitting the palate like Ariana hits her high notes. 

BACKGROUND

I have always known this recipe and my iaia preferred to do this over a seafood (with unpeeled seafood) or meat paella, since it is simpler to cook and cleaner to eat (the seafood is peeled). It was only when I was researching about this dish that I learnt that arroz a banda is not originally from Valencia but from Alicante, which is a province of Comunidad Valenciana. Alicante’s Costa Blanca is the tourist destination for summer holidays and it is also an all-year-round residence for many British and German expats, concentrating in places like Benidorm, Torrevieja, Xàbia, Calp, Altea or Dénia.

Looking for recipes online to compare my iaia’s recipe, I found all sorts of aberrations so I turned to my friend from Alicante. He emphatically dismissed all of those, agreeing with me and confirming my version as the most common used. The only difference was that they use dried red peppers called ñoras. Another learning! He was shocked I didn’t know them, even less because our provinces are neighbours and we share some common heritage. It turns out, these dried red peppers are used to make my favourite spice: paprika. What can you not fix with paprika? It gives such a smoky warmth to all your dishes. I haven’t seen ñoras in the UK, but we definitely have paprika, and I’m sure it would be similar elsewhere. I always use the sweet version, but I’m aware there is a spicy one. You do you.

The actual translation of arroz a banda would be “rice on the side”. The origin of the dish seems to be from the fishermen worthless catch, which they would use to make fish stock. Trying to make the best out of the food with the little means they had, with that fish stock they would make a stew with other vegetables and serve it with aioli, keep some of the stock and cook rice some other day. I am not sure how we got to the nowadays paella with aioli, but whoever it was, I’m a fan! So I say…


PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!

From the moment I made a seaweed stock for my fideuà recipe, I knew that other seafood dishes would be converted, and arroz a banda was at the top of my list.

I already figured out how to make calamari rings from king oyster mushrooms. In London, nowadays you can find them in mushroom speciality shops or fresh food markets, like Borough Market.

I had another box of vegan shrimp in the freezer from when I made fideuà. In 2024, I found these at Tesco in the chilled vegan section.

I made the recipe for two people, but you can double the rice and stock, and with the same ingredients you should have enough for 4 people. Although with all paella cooking, the thinner the rice layer, the more consistent cooking you will get. If there is too much rice, the middle layer gets overcooked. More information on paella pans, methods of cooking and maintenance of the pan on my Vegetable Valencian Paella post.



ARROZ A BANDA (VEGAN SEAFOOD PAELLA)


Serves: 2 people
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3 king oyster mushrooms
2 ripe tomatoes (they must be ripe, very red and soft)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
Seaweed stock: 6 cups water + 1 veggie stock cube + 1 nori seaweed sheet + a couple of pieces of wakame + 1 tsp. miso paste + 1/8 tsp. saffron powder (or 1/4 tsp. of artificial yellow colouring)
250g frozen vegan shrimp
1 tsp. paprika
200g paella rice
Olive oil spray
Salt

Aioli to serve


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. To make the “calamari” rings, slice the king oyster mushrooms to make about 1cm-thick coins out of the stalks. Use an apple corer or knife to cut out a circle to make rings. Fry them with oil in the paella and set aside.
  2. Cut the tomatoes in half, grate the pulp and mix it with the garlic in the same bowl. Add the tomato peel into the stock pot.
  3. Make the seaweed stock and then simmer until use. Taste and adjust salt.
  4. Spray some olive oil onto the paella pan and turn the hob onto a medium-high. When the oil is hot, fry the vegan shrimp until golden and season with salt.
  5. Push the shrimp to the sides, spray a bit more of oil to the centre, and when hot, add the tomato and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Stir for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the paprika and stir for one more minute.
  6. Add the seaweed stock up to the inner paella pan screws or three times the volume of the rice amount. If you have made enough stock, you should have a bit left that you may need later. Add the rice and spread equally, then distribute the mushroom rings evenly and mostly covered in stock. Simmer over high heat for 5 minutes and reduce to medium heat for the remaining 10 minutes or until no stock left.
  7. Turn off the heat and cover the paella for 5 minutes with a couple of newspaper sheets or anything else that retains the steam. This will aid finish cooking the rice on the top, which had less boiling time.
  8. Serve immediately with a generous dollop of aioli and mix in before eating.

You can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

Bon profit!