Vegan Arroz Valenciana

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Arroz Valenciana is a very festive Filipino rice dish that’s heavily influenced by Spanish Paella. This dish uses glutinous or sticky rice and is cooked with turmeric that gives it that distinct yellow colour. It has bell peppers, raisins, peas, and richness from coconut cream. I also cooked this down with some vegan sausage/chorizo and some vegan “chicken” for a delicious meaty bite.

This is a one-pan (or pot) dish, that's perfect for sharing and celebrations!

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Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Filipino, Fusion, Southeast Asian, Spanish

Servings people

Calories 511 kcal

Ingredients

Rice

1.5 cups dry glutinous rice or sticky rice (malagkit na bigas), soaked

Arroz Valenciana

1.5 tbsp vegan butter or neutral oil
1 small onion , diced
3 cloves garlic , minced
1 small green bell pepper , sliced
1 small red bell pepper , sliced
1 small carrot , peeled and sliced
1 cup vegan chicken chunks (see notes)
1 cup sliced vegan sausages or chorizo (see notes)
1/2 cup green peas
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp paprika powder
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup coconut cream or milk
3/4-1 cup vegetable broth (see notes)
2 dried bay leaves optional
1/2-1 tsp salt adjust to taste

Instructions

Wash your glutinous rice 3-4 times or until the water starts to run clear. Leave your rice to soaked in room temperature water for at least 2 hours or overnight. You can simple leave this in room temperature throughout. After soaking, drain the rice from the water.
Heat a large skillet or cast iron pan with a large surface (a 12-inch pan would be great).
Once hot, add in the butter or oil. Sauté the onion and garlic until aromatic. Add in the bell peppers and carrots. Cook down until half-cooked. You can add in your protein of choice and cook down as well. Remove the vegetables and protein from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add in the soaked rice, turmeric and paprika. Mix to coat well.
Over medium heat, pour in the coconut milk and 3/4 cup of broth. Add in the dried bay leaves (if using) and season with salt. Gently mix and leave to simmer over medium low heat. Cover your pan and leave the rice to cook. Once it boils, you can lower the heat to prevent bottom from cooking too fast and burning. Halfway through cooking, you can add back in the vegetables and protein. Fold the veg and protein in the rice. Be careful not to over mix the rice since they can turn mushy if mixed too much. I left some vegetables and protein for topping.
If the rice still has a bite and needs more cooking, you can add additional broth and cover the pan. Allow to cook over low heat until so the rice can slowly cook in the heat until cooked through.
Taste the rice and feel free to season with more salt, to taste, if needed.
When the rice is almost cooked to your liking, remove the lid and allow any excess liquid to evaporate. When ready, turn off the heat.
Serve the arroz valenciana while hot. You get that nice stickiness from the rice and richness form the coconut milk. I topped mine with the remaining vegetables and protein. You can also top yours with boiled egg (sliced in wedges) if vegetarian.

Notes

Rice

Can I use regular rice?
- Though I haven’t tried it for this recipe, you can but of course it won’t be as sticky as glutinous rice. You can try jasmine rice or any medium/long grain rice and start with 1/2 cup broth, since regular rice cooks faster than sticky/glutinous rice. I also recommend to soak regular rice for a shorter time, around 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Coconut Milk/Cream

I used canned coconut milk. I highly recommend to purchase good quality coconut milk or cream that’s rich and not watery. There are a lot of Thai coconut milk brands of good quality that you can check in your local grocery or Asian store.

Vegetable Broth

You can opt to use water and add a vegetable bouillon or powder to dilute in the water while cooking.

Protein

I used vegan ‘chicken’ chunks (from the brand Heura) and vegan sausages (from the brand UnMeat). I highly recommend to use vegan chorizo or sausages with spices for that extra flavour. Note that these came seasoned so I no longer seasoned my protein.
You can also use other protein like seitan, smoked tofu, or mushrooms. If doing so, I recommend to season these with salt, pepper, paprika to taste especially if they’re plain.

Storage Tips

Arroz valenciana is best enjoyed freshly made. You can store leftovers in the fridge but I find that the grains tends to become a bit mushy when reheated and become a lot more sticky because of the starch. If course if you don’t mind, it shouldn’t be a problem!
To reheat, I recommend to simply place the leftovers on a pan and cook down until hot.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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