Arroz Negro
Black rice coloured and flavoured with squid ink, cooked with squid and sofrito in a wide pan and served with alioli.
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The ink looks alarming and tastes of the sea. Arroz negro is a rice dish from the Valencian coast and Catalonia, in which rice is cooked in a stock coloured jet black with squid or cuttlefish ink. The flavour is briny, deep and a little sweet, and the dish needs a dollop of garlic mayonnaise to lift it.
Buy the ink in small sachets from a fishmonger or a Spanish delicatessen. Two sachets, or about 8 g, are enough for 4 servings. Dissolve the ink in a ladle of hot stock before adding it to the pan, otherwise it stays in streaks. Don't worry about the staining. It washes out of everything except teeth, for a short while.
The base is a sofrito of onion, garlic, tomato and green pepper, cooked slowly in olive oil for 15 minutes. Add the squid, cut into small pieces, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the rice, add the ink stock, and bring to a boil. Do not stir after that.
Cook for 18 minutes over a medium heat, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Rest for 5 minutes. Serve with alioli and lemon wedges.
Arroz Negro: Step by Step
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Heat the oil in a wide pan. Cook the onion, pepper and garlic for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until thick.
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Add the squid and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the rice for 1 minute.
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Dissolve the squid ink in a ladle of hot stock and pour into the pan with the remaining stock and salt. Bring to a boil and do not stir.
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Cook over a medium heat for 18 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Rest for 5 minutes.
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Serve with the alioli and lemon wedges.
Related guide: Choosing rice.
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Tips That Matter
- Dissolve the ink in a little stock first.
- Do not stir the rice.
- Serve with plenty of alioli.
Swaps and Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Serve It With
Alioli · Lemon wedges · Green salad · White wine
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Espinacas a la Catalana, Judias Verdes con Jamon.
Leftovers and Storage
Keeps in the fridge for 1 day. Reheat gently.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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