One of my happiest dining memories is the first time I tried Arroz a la Tumbada at the King of Carnival restaurant in the city of Veracruz, where it is prepared to order for each diner and served in individual clay cazuelas.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons corn oil
- 1 cup medium grain rice, washed and dried
- 1/2 medium white onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 2 roma tomatoes, roasted, seeded, peeled and liquified
- 2 1/2 cups fish stock
- 1/2 pound raw fish filets, cut into 1″ pieces
- 1/2 pound raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 1/4 pound chopped, cooked octopus
- 4 soft-shell crabs
- 8 scrubbed clams
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
In a clay cazuela or heavy-bottomed pot, heat the butter and oil. Add the rice, onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is just turning golden. Add the liquified tomatoes and cook until they are nearly absorbed by the rice.
Add the fish stock, fish filets, shrimp, octopus, crabs and clams. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover tightly and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Remove lid, sprinkle with chopped parsley, bring the cazuela to the table and serve from it.
Serves 4.
Published or Updated on: January 1, 2006
