Savory Seafood Risotto
By Jocelyn Iyog
The perfect creamy risotto that makes for a great party dish.
Ingredients:
65 ml virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
200 grams hake flakes, cut into bite-sized portions
45 mg flour
200 grams calamari rings
200 grams peeled and veined shrimps
5 cups fish stock
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 ˝ cups risotto (Arborio) rice
125 ml dry white wine
3 medium red tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons chives
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Procedure:
Place a large sauce pan under medium heat. Pour in half of the olive oil
and sauté garlic until crisp and brown. Do not burn the garlic as it
will add a bitter taste. Coat hake flakes in flour and toss in the
saucepan along with the shrimps and the calamari. Take note that
although hake is somewhat similar to cod in flavor, the texture is
different. The hake is flakey. If hake is not available, you may
substitute it with fillets of cod, red snapper, halibut, or monkfish.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to your desired taste. Cook
mixture until hake flakes turn opaque. Then remove from pan and set
aside. Pour the remaining half of the olive oil into the pan and sauté
leeks until soft, not browned. Gradually add the rice, stirring
constantly. As much as possible use Arborio rice. It is now already sold
in almost all supermarkets. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the
white wine to the rice mixture and stir constantly until all liquid has
been absorbed. In a small saucepan, gently simmer fish stock. Take note
that cold stock lowers the temperature of the rice as it cooks which
results to a gluey texture. Add one ladleful of the stock at a time to
the rice, stirring until it is absorbed. This process is the secret to a
creamy risotto because it allows starch to be released from the rice.
Repeat procedure until all stock has been added and rice is firm but
tender. Note that the time it takes to cook the risotto depends largely
whether the rice is freshly harvested or if it’s old. The temperature of
the broth is also one big factor to cooking. A gradually simmering broth
is ideal. There is no standard time to cook the dish. The procedure can
be done in less than 30 minutes all it could take up to an hour. Always
remember that the secret to perfect stickiness and creaminess that is
characteristics of an authentic Italian risotto is adding the broth
gradually. The creamy texture should come from the starch in the rice
and not from the sauce. When rice is al dente and all liquid is
absorbed, gradually add the cooked seafood and tomatoes. Mix thoroughly.
Then take sauce pan off the stove and stir in butter and sprinkle the
herbs. The remaining heat will make the sauce blend gracefully with the
rice mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Risotto should be
served steaming hot.
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