Arroz negro (vegan black rice)

 

A paella made with mushrooms, seaweed stock and black rice. Mixing it with aioli makes it like a light risotto.


Hola!

Today I bring you my plant-based take on another Spanish paella dish typical from the Mediterranean coast: vegan black rice (arroz negro). It’s a paella that I made with mushrooms and seaweed stock. The nuttiness of the black rice blends perfectly with the seaweed stock. Like arroz a banda, this dish may be served with aioli, but this is a personal choice. For those garlic fans out there, 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 smoother and lighter. It is such an explosion of garlicky sea flavour in your mouth, with a luscious rich texture and a wonderful al dente rice bite. 

Arroz negro is typical from the Spanish Mediterranean coast, since it is cooked in a paella pan. That is about all the information I could find, which is indicative of how niche this is. I used to love when my iaia used to cook this, so I was excited to veganise this recipe.

PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!

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

Originally, arroz negro is made with paella rice and squid ink is used to make it black. I always thought that I would use wild rice to make it look black, but the few times I have cooked wild rice, it is always chewy and it does go better on a salad or cold. Doing a bit of research, I noticed that people used an Italian rice variety called nerone rice, which is a black rice but plumper than wild rice. When I cooked it, I realised that it was definitely the right choice. It takes much longer to cook than paella rice, but the flavour is nutty and the texture is pleasant to chew on. I bought it online and I’ve also seen it at Whole Foods. It is so nice to try different rice varieties and so enriching for your experience as a foodie. I do recommend it. Without the nerone rice, I’m afraid this recipe would not be the same. Plus, the black colour is due to its anthocyanin content, which is an antioxidant. All the benefits and more fibre. The only downside is that it dyes everything black, ergo the photos.

The other original “visible” ingredient is little squid (chipirones). Some other people also add prawns so I could have added vegan prawns, but I wanted to stick to the simplistic approach of the original recipe, and I just swapped squid for shimeji mushrooms, which tend to be available at Asian stores. They are not necessary at all, but I thought that their mild mushroom flavour and their long and thin shape would go well with the dish, and they do! Any other mushrooms may be used, but I would go for mild flavour ones like king oyster mushrooms. The stock is made with seaweed for a seafood resemblance, so mushroom flavour is not quite what we are looking for. 

I made the recipe for 2-3 people, but you can double the rice and stock, and with the same ingredients you should have enough for 4-5 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 NEGRO (VEGAN BLACK RICE)


Serves: 2-3 people
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes


INGREDIENTS

150g shimeji (beech mushrooms)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ripe tomatoes (they must be ripe, very red and soft)
1 tsp. paprika
200g nerone rice
2l seaweed stock: 8 cups water + 2 veggie stock cubes + 1 nori seaweed sheet + a couple of pieces of wakame + 1 tsp. miso paste
Olive oil spray
Salt

Aioli to serve


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut the mushrooms stem to separate the mushrooms and set aside. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Cut the tomatoes in half, grate the pulp and add both to the same bowl. Add the tomato peel into the stock pot.
  2. Make the seaweed stock and then simmer until use. Taste and adjust salt.
  3. Spray some olive oil onto the paella pan and turn the hob onto a medium-high. When the oil is hot, sear the mushrooms for 1 minute. Push the mushrooms 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 rice, and stir for one more minute.
  4. Add the seaweed stock up to the inner paella pan screws or the volume of three times the rice amount and spread the rice equally with the mushrooms. If you have made enough stock, you should have a bit left that you may need later. Simmer over high heat for 15 minutes and reduce to medium heat for another 20 minutes or until no stock left. You can add more stock if needed, but remember that there should be no stock left when finished.
  5. 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 finish cooking the rice on the top, which had less boiling time.

Serve immediately with a generous dollop of aioli on a side.

You can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. I do not recommend to freeze it.

Bon profit!