Menorcan Fish and Rice, Camp Pan Version
Fried fish over paprika rice, cooked in one pan at the truck.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 65
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 450 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Whole small fish, cleaned | 4-6, depending on size | razorfish if you caught them, otherwise red mullet or any small panfish |
|---|---|---|
| Flour for dusting | 1/4 cup | |
| Sunflower oil for frying | 1/2 cup | |
| Short-grain rice | 150 g | paella or risotto rice, not long grain |
| Tomatoes, diced | 2 | |
| Red bell pepper, diced | 1 | |
| Onion, finely chopped | 1 | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Fish stock | 400-450 ml | bouillon powder plus water works; the fish heads make better stock if you have the time |
| Sea fennel or fennel fronds | a small handful | optional, for the fish |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Get a bed of coals or a steady medium flame. A big flat pan over the fire, olive oil in it.
- Cook the onion, pepper, and tomato until the edges brown and the liquid cooks off. Ten minutes or so.
- Add the rice and stir it around for a minute so every grain gets coated in oil.
- Pour in the hot stock, season, and level the rice out. Do not stir again. Let it cook 18-20 minutes until the liquid is gone and the bottom starts to crisp. Pull it off the heat and cover it with foil.
- Wipe out a second pan or use a small pot. Heat the sunflower oil until a pinch of flour sizzles.
- Salt the fish, dust them in flour, shake off the excess, and fry in batches until the skin is crisp on both sides. Two to three minutes a side for small fish.
- Drain on paper, scatter the fennel over the top, and lay the fish on the rice.
This is a Menorcan take on paella scaled down to what fits in a camp pan. Two pans is a compromise: the rice needs to sit undisturbed to set its crust, and frying fish in the same pan would break that up. If you only have one pan, fry the fish first, set it aside under foil, and build the rice in the leftover oil.
The fish stock does the work. Rice cooked in water is filler; rice cooked in stock is the dish, and the fried fish on top is protein and crunch. Fresh fish means a cooler and same-day cooking, so this is a truck or boat meal, not a pack meal. The dried-vegetable variation is what makes it carryable.
Packing
Fish and vegetables live in the cooler. Rice, flour, bouillon, salt, and pepper go in a dry box. Carry the oils in leakproof bottles inside a bag, not loose in the bin.
Variations
- No fresh fish? Two foil pouches of tuna or a can of sardines stirred into the finished rice. Skip the frying step entirely.
- Swap the fresh tomatoes and pepper for dehydrated ones and rehydrate them in the stock. That moves this into pack-in range.
https://petromax.de/blogs/its-all-about-food-1/raor-frito-con-arroz-a-la-menorquina