Arroz con Camarones

World Cup, Day 9 - Ecuador

Arroz con Camarones

Rice with Shrimp

Day 8 of the World Cup was a sad one for our nearest neighbours. A loss to Uruguay coupled with Italy's loss to Costa Rica today sends the three loins home after only two games. I may have to rethink celebrating an English dish next week! Today I decided to cook an Ecuadorian dish. A simple arroz con camarones or rice with shrimp. 

This dish isn't too extravagant but it does contain one ingredient that I haven't had with this type of meal before; cumin. I liked it. As usual I used crevettes as they are cheap and easy to get in Newbridge. After boiling the crevettes make sure to reserve the cooking water to cook the rice in, it adds a lot to the flavour. Here is my take on the Ecuadorian staple.

Serves 3-4

500g Raw Crevettes
3tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Red Pepper (finely chopped)
8 Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
1tsp Cumin Seeds
200g Long Grain Rice
100ml White Wine
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Bring 2 litres of water to the boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the crevettes and boil for 2 minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking water and run the crevettes under cold water to stop them overcooking. Set crevettes and cooking broth aside.

2. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the onion, garlic, red pepper, tomatoes and cumin. Season well and cook for 7-8 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the rice and stir well before adding the wine. Cook for 5-6 minutes to burn off the alcohol before adding 300ml of the reserved cooking broth. Cook for 15-20 minutes until rice is tender. Add the crevettes into the rice about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time and stir well. If the pan becomes dry before the rice is cooked add extra broth.