Prepare Roberto Cuadra's Peruvian arroz con mariscos

What this arroz con mariscos is meant to be

Home cooks often find arroz con mariscos, or rice and seafood, through recipe collections such as Anita's Delights. Many versions exist. This guide follows the one Peru Delights credits to Roberto Cuadra. It is a Peruvian main course that serves 2 to 3 people, with about 30 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. It is built on rice that has already been cooked, so it works well when you have plain white rice ready and want to turn it into a seafood entree in one saucepan. The finished dish should be hot and juicy, and it should go to the table as soon as it is done.

Equipment

• A saucepan, which is the only cooking vessel the recipe names
• A small pan and a fine strainer if you are making the achiote oil yourself
• A food thermometer for checking seafood temperature

Ingredients, grouped by when you use them

The quantities below are Cuadra's. They are arranged by cooking stage so you can set out each group before you turn on the heat.

• Aromatic base: 3 tbsp vegetable oil, ½ cup diced red onion, 3 garlic cloves
• Seasoning stage: 1 tomato, peeled and seeded; 1–2 tbsp chopped ají amarillo; ½ tsp oregano; 1 bay leaf; ¼ cup achiote oil
• Liquids: ¼ cup white wine, ¼ cup fish stock
• Seafood and rice: 8 oz raw seafood (peeled shrimp, squid rings, clams or scallops); 2 cups cooked white rice
• Finishing: 1 red pepper, charred and peeled; ½ cup cooked peas; ½ cup grated Parmesan; 1 tbsp chopped coriander; salt and pepper

Achiote oil: Cuadra's method is to warm ½ cup vegetable oil with 1 tbsp achiote seeds over gentle heat until the oil turns red. Let it cool, then strain out the seeds. The dish uses ¼ cup, so this batch makes more than you need for one pan.

Seafood choice: you can use any of the four listed seafoods or a mix of them, as long as the total is 8 oz. For example, 4 oz of peeled shrimp plus 4 oz of squid rings makes 8 oz. That is simple arithmetic for shopping, not a tested combination. Write down which seafood you bought, because each one is checked for doneness differently.

Rice: measure the 2 cups of cooked rice once and keep it in one container. Add all of it at the seafood stage. Do not prepare a second batch.

Step-by-step method

• 1. Heat the 3 tbsp vegetable oil in the saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and stir for 3 minutes.
• 2. Lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
• 3. Add the tomato, ají amarillo, oregano, bay leaf and achiote oil. Cook for 5 minutes.
• 4. Pour in the white wine and let it reduce until almost none is left. Do not add the stock until the wine has mostly cooked away.
• 5. Add the fish stock, the seafood and the cooked rice. Stir for about 3 minutes, which is Cuadra's timing. Then check the seafood using the cues below and keep cooking until each type passes.
• 6. Take out the bay leaf.
• 7. Stir in the red pepper, peas, Parmesan and coriander. Season with salt and pepper.
• 8. Serve immediately, while the dish is hot and still juicy.

Decisions that change the next step

• Heat level: the recipe gives a range of 1 to 2 tbsp ají amarillo. Decide on the amount before step 3.
• Wine reduction: move on to the stock only when the wine is almost completely gone.
• Seafood check: treat the 3-minute stir in step 5 as a guide, not a finish line. If any seafood fails its check, keep it over the heat.
• Clams: throw away any clam that stays closed after cooking.

Judging doneness and food safety

The FDA says most seafood should reach an internal temperature of 145°F. It also gives visual cues for some types of seafood, listed below. Check each type you used before you add the finishing ingredients.

Seafood	What to look for
Shrimp	Flesh is firm, pearly and opaque
Scallops	Flesh is firm, pearly and opaque
Clams	Shells open during cooking; throw away any that do not open
Squid rings	The FDA gives no separate visual cue; use the 145°F internal temperature

What the finished dish looks like

The finished pan should have rice coated with the red, achiote-tinted base, seafood that has passed its doneness checks, and peas, red pepper, cheese and coriander mixed through. It should be moist rather than dry, matching the hot and juicy result Cuadra describes. Serve it right away, because it is meant to be eaten as soon as it comes off the heat.