This Arroz Valenciana recipe is one pan rice dish. It’s a Filipino version of Paella, and it is a perfect dish for any occasion. Glutinous rice, coconut milk, and chicken broth are its main ingredient, plus some embellishments to rock this dish.
Arroz Valenciana
Spain colonized the Philippines for 300 years.; therefore, we have several Filipino recipes they influence. One of those recipes is Arroz Valenciana. This recipe originally came from Valencia, in the Eastern part of Spain. Still, Filipinos added our twists to adapt to our taste and the ingredients’ availability.
Arroz means rice, and Valencia is where this dish came from, so it’s called Arroz Valenciana.
This dish may look similar to Paella, but the ingredients are different.
In the Philippines, this is commonly served during Christmas and special occasions, but I make it whole year-round for my meal prep. Although this meal is ubiquitous for Christmas, you can do it for any planning party. I brought this to a friend’s Halloween party. But since it’s almost Christmas, we are making this Arroz Valenciana for you to serve on Noche Buena.
Equipment Needed
- Flat pan- to ensure that the rice is fully cooked equally.
- Spoon/Spatula- use to mix the ingredients.
Ingredients for Arroz Valenciana
- Glutinous rice- otherwise known as sticky rice or malagkit rice, this type of rice clumps together when cooked. You can use sweet rice also if you have that available.
Jasmine rice - Skinless chicken thigh or chicken breast or another chicken part of your choice
Chorizo de Bilbao/Chinese sausage- They are similar, but I will use the term Bilbao throughout the instruction, so don’t confuse them. - Green peas
- Paprika and Turmeric powder- make the color of this Arroz Valenciana pop. If you skip these two ingredients, your Valenciana will turn pale
- Chicken broth
- Coconut milk
- Onion, tomato and garlic, and red bell pepper (cut into bell pepper strips)
- Cooking oil
- Frozen green peas, Hard-boiled eggs
- fish sauce, salt, and pepper add tomato paste or tomato sauce if desired
ARROZ VALENCIANA RECIPE
Arroz Valenciana may look challenging to make, but it is super easy. I explained the instruction thoroughly, and I made a video to guide you, and the list below will prep you for it. Preparation is always the key when making your meals. So always prepare by slicing or cutting the ingredients ahead of time.
- Prepare the Arroz Valenciana Ingredients: Slice the bell peppers into strips and set them aside. Also, slice the tomatoes, onion, and garlic into small pieces. Slice the chicken thigh and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Thinly slice the Bilbao into bite-size pieces and set it aside. Boil also the eggs and these boiled eggs into strips. And measure the other ingredients. For this recipe, you need plain rice and glutinous rice combined. Cut bell peppers into strips and chop the onion and garlic
How to Make Chicken Stock
- If you don’t have chicken stock, you can make your own by mixing one chicken bouillon cube with two cups of water.
- Saute’: Place the flat pan on the stove pot and turn on the heat to medium heat. Add the oil and fry the Chorizo De Bilbao until cooked.
- Add chicken and fry them on all sides using the same pan. Remove from the pan and set it aside.
- Let’s start: Using the same pan, add cooking oil if necessary, saute’ garlic until brown, and onions until transparent. Add the tomato and bell pepper strips. Season with Paprika and add Turmeric powder and cook until pepper and tomato are soft.
- Add the rice and mix to coat with the sauce, let it cook for two more minutes, and add the chicken broth and coconut milk. Cover the pan and cook on low heat, occasionally stirring when the coconut milk and broth are evaporated. Cover and cook in low heat until the rice is cooked.
- Add the pre-cooked ingredients: Chicken thigh/breast, green peas, and Chorizo de Bilbao, and mix with the rice gently. Season with fish sauce if needed.
How to Serve:
Embellish it with sliced boiled eggs, chopped green onions, and red bell pepper, and add a quarter cup of add green peas to decorate Serve hot. Add chorizo de bilbao
How to Store
Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for three days. You can also freeze it and let it sit at room temperature, then microwave for one minute when you are ready to eat it.
Arroz Valennciana vs Paella?
No. They are way different.
In Spanish Paella, you are not allowed to mix the rice after a certain point. Paella uses saffron to up that taste, but we use paprika and turmeric powder on the former. We use chicken stock and coconut for Arroz Valenciana and for the rice, we mix regular rice with the mal but we only use chicken stock for Paella. We combined Jasmine rice and Glutinous rice for Arroz Valenciana while we’ll use only Paella rice for Paella.
Happy cooking!
Arroz Valenciana Easy Recipe
Equipment
- flat pan
- spatula or ladle for mixing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup glutinous rice
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1/2 lb skinless chicken thigh chicken breast or other chicken cut will work. Cut into small bite sized pieces
- 3 pieces Chinese sausage and cook until it changes its color. Remove from pan and set aside.
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Tumeric
- 2 cups chicken broth you can mix 2 cups of water with 1 bouillon
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 small sized onion chopped
- 1 small size tomato chopped ( size a bit bigger than ping pong ball)
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/4 cup of red bell pepper cut into strips
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- fish sauce to season if needed
- green onion leaves, hard boiled eggs
Instructions
- Heat cooking oil in a medium sized flat pan and saute' chicken thigh and cook until until soft. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Cook Chinese sausage and cook until it changes its color. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add cooking oil,if needed, in the same pan and saute' garlic until brown and onion until transparent. Add the tomato and pepper. Season with Paprika and Turmeric powder and cook until pepper and tomato are soft. Add the rice and mix to coat with the sauce.
- Add the chicken broth and coconut milk. Cover and let cook in a low heat until rice is done and liquid evaporated.
- Add the chicken, peas and Chinese sausage mix with the rice gently.
- KEEP AN EYE OF THE RICE AS IT TENDS TO STICK AT THE BOTTOM. When it does, just scrape it and mix. You 'll find yourself mixing the rice all the time to equally cook the rice grain and that's OK.I found that the liquid here is enough as there is steam from covering the Arroz Valenciana while cooking.
Hi. Do you put raisins in the arroz valenciana or is it just for garnish like the onion leeks? Saw it in the image posted. Thank you.
You can add raisins in this if you want.
Hello, you use 1/2c glutinous rice,1c jasmine and another 1/2c rice?
Oh no~~ Yup, use only 1/2 cup glutinous rice and 1 cup jasmine rice. I corrected the recipe. Thank you for the message.