Spanish-Inspired Clam Rice; Arroz con Almejas

Soccer Soccer Soccer

Every time I watch a soccer game, I'm taken back to the weeks Mer and I spent in Madrid during the last world cup tournament.  We watched every single game with friendly strangers from all over Europe.  Oh, and we ate.  Boy, did we eat (I gained 15lbs).

So?  Euro Cup this weekend right?  Spain won again.  And, as I did in Spain, I watched this weekend's game on a terrace drinking beer and eating olives.

So when grocery time rolled around today, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and my pregnant wife was craving seafood, which gave me an idea; a vision.  This was the vision:

It was our first day in Madrid and we went to Mercado San Miguel in search of breakfast.  What we found was this lovely clam rice dish that was the Spanish version of risotto.  We also found the motherload of cured hams, shrimp, oysters, and every manner of delicious creature, but that's a story for another day.

My version of this dish is hardly Spanish, because I can't imagine clams without dashi and miso.  Still, the flavour was similar to the dish we had in Spain, it's just that the dashi is swapped in instead of fumet and sake  is there instead of white wine; it's just a bit more subtle; a bit sweeter; earthier; truer to the clam.

Spanish-Inspired Clam Rice


Serves 2 (the recipe scales well)


1/2 White Onion (the sweeter the better); about 1 cup, chopped small
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup canaroli rice (arborio or even sushi rice will substitute)
1/4 cup cooking sake
1.5 tsps shiro miso
1.5 cups dashi
Butter

Clam Broth
1/2 cup dashi
12 clams

Finish with
3 tbsps cream
2 tbsps fresh chopped herbs (I went parsley, thyme, oregano; heavier on the parsley)
Dabs of Butter

First, add the clams and the dashi to a pot and heat until the clams open, set aside.

Sweat the onions and the garlic until soft.  Mix in the rice, sake, and miso, stirring until the miso is fully incorporated.  Add the dashi, clams and broth, cover and cook until the rice is a bit chewy.  

Finish with cream and herbs

Mercado San Miguel