Arroz a la Tumbada
This is one of my favorite dishes from the State of Veracruz that originated in the port of Alvarado. This is a fisherman's dish that as legend has it was prepared by a cook who just "tossed or threw together" the rice with the catch of the day, hence the name in Spanish "a la tumbada." Many will take a quick look and think that this is similar to a paella, but it is not. This dish is great and has some similarity to a paella but this is much more like a soup.
Important -- this is my version! What I always tell my guests is that Mexican cuisine is a living cuisine - it moves over time - which is what makes it so great. Every house has its own mole, their own secret recipe, their own way to make that special dish handed down over the generations.
For those of you who want to pull down a PDF version to print, you can find it here.
Serves 6 to 8
2 cups of long
grain rice
2 tablespoons
olive oil
10 cups of hot
fish broth or water
½ cup white
onion chopped
3 garlic cloves
minced
2 cups tomatoes
chopped
16 u/8 shrimp peeled
and de-veined with tail on
½ cup cooked octopus
or squid rings
4 blue crab
cleaned and cut in half
1 cup mussels
or small clams (whatever you like best or can find freshest)
½ cup peas
½ cup carrot, peeled
and cut pea-size
¼ cup chopped
cilantro
3 or 4 Serrano
Chiles chopped
4 limes cut in wedges
Sea salt to
taste (about 2 tablespoons)
We will need a
large sauté or paella pan about 25 inches in diameter and 4 - 5 inches deep. You will need a lid to cover the pan.
Place the pan
on medium heat and add the olive oil.
Place the rice and fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the grains are translucid
on the outside and white on the inside.
Don’t mix the rice. Gently fold
the rice so it won’t break and turn mushy after cooking.
Add chopped
onion and cook for another minute, then add minced garlic cook for another 30
seconds. Add chopped tomatoes and cook
for another minute. Salt freely the rice
tomato, onion and garlic mixture.
Add 4 cups of
the hot fish broth or water. Allow to
come to a boil. Taste the broth and see
if it needs more salt. It should taste a
little salty since you will be adding seafood and vegetables. After you are satisfied that it is salted
correctly, put on low heat and cover for 10 minutes.
Add another 2
cups of hot fish broth. Nestle the blue crab
into the rice and cover for 5 minutes. The broth should always be ¼ inch above the
level of the rice. Add up to two cups of
broth to do so. It is not necessary for
the broth to cover the sea food. Taste
the broth. It should be a little
salty. Also taste the rice as it should
be almost cooked.
Add the rest of
the seafood, carrots, and peas. Cover
the pan for 5 minutes after the broth comes to a boil again. You may need to add more broth do so. Again, making sure the broth is ¼ inch above
the rice. Important: This is a soupy
style of dish. It should have liquid as
you serve the dish in a bowl. This is
not like paella which is much drier.
When the rice
is cooked but still al dente, serve
in a bowl and sprinkle with cilantro and Serrano chile. Give everyone a wedge of lime to squeeze over
the dish.
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