› Browse Recipes › Risotto-Style Arroz con Mariscos (Arrisotado) — Peruvian Seafood Rice

by Victor Heredia

recipe medium Peruvian

Risotto-Style Arroz con Mariscos (Arrisotado) — Peruvian Seafood Rice

A Peruvian-style risotto seafood rice made with day-old cooked rice, a mixed seafood and prawn mixture marinated in lime, sautéed in a wok with white wine and seafood mother sauce, finished with cream and parmesan cheese. Not a true risotto — arrisotado means rice given a risotto-like creaminess using cream rather than starch alone.

download Extracted 2026-04-01

20m Prep

10m Cook

45m Total

1 Servings

arroz-con-mariscos arrisotado risotto seafood-rice mariscos langostinos peru coastal wok negocio emprendimiento master-cook victor-heredia crema-de-leche parmesano

Ingredients

Cooking

15 ml Vegetable oil (for the wok)

Finish

15 g Parmesan cheese, grated (stirred in at the end)
100 ml Heavy cream (nata líquida / crema de leche) (added at the end for the risotto-like creaminess)

Garnish

to taste Mixed vegetables for garnish (verduritas) (half mixed in, half reserved for plate decoration)
to taste Mussels / choros (for presentation) (cooked, placed on top of plated dish) optional
1–2 pieces Small crab (for presentation on the plate) optional

Main

250 g Cooked rice, day-old (cooked the previous day; use aged or parboiled rice)

Sauce

50 ml Dry white wine (added after searing seafood; deglaze and let alcohol evaporate)
1 ladle Seafood mother sauce (salsa madre de mariscos) (pre-prepared seafood base sauce)

Seafood

150 g Mixed seafood (mixtura) (can include squid, octopus, mussels, other shellfish)
50 g Prawns / langostinos (added to bring total seafood to 200 g)
1 g Salt (0.5 g per 100 g of seafood; total 1 g for 200 g seafood)
half lime Lime juice (for marinating the seafood 10–15 minutes before cooking)

Steps

1

Marinate the seafood: combine the 200 g total seafood (150 g mixed seafood + 50 g prawns), 1 g salt, and the juice of half a small lime. Mix and leave to marinate 10–15 minutes so the flavors blend.

Tip: Always marinate seafood with a touch of lime — it is an important technique for all marine products.

~15 min
2

Heat the wok over medium-high heat. Add 15 ml oil. Once hot, add the marinated seafood and sear for a few seconds — the seafood needs a quick Maillard reaction, not full cooking at this stage.

Tip: A few seconds is enough — do not overcook the seafood at this stage or it will become rubbery later.

~2 min
3

Add 50 ml dry white wine to deglaze. Let the alcohol evaporate for about 1–2 minutes.

Tip: Use a good quality dry white wine — it is a key flavor component of this dish.

~2 min
4

Add one ladle of seafood mother sauce. Stir to combine. Let it come to a light boil.

~2 min
5

Add the 250 g day-old cooked rice. Stir and let it absorb the sauce. The rice must simmer briefly to absorb all the seafood flavor. The final texture should be slightly soupy (caldoso), not dry.

Tip: Day-old rice is essential for this style — fresh rice will break down. The dish should look and feel like a loose risotto.

~3 min
6

Add half the garnish vegetables and stir. Then add 100 ml cream and 15 g grated parmesan. Stir to combine.

Tip: This is what makes it 'arrisotado' — cream and parmesan giving a creamy, risotto-like finish. A true risotto uses only rice starch, not cream.

~2 min
7

Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve immediately in a wide bowl. Decorate with reserved vegetables, mussels, small crabs, and prawns on top for visual impact.

Tip: Always taste before serving — even a standardized recipe can have slight batch variations that need adjusting.

~2 min

Nutrition (per serving)

520

Calories

35g

Protein

52g

Carbs

18g

Fat

Fiber

Cultural Context

Arroz con mariscos is a pillar of Peruvian coastal cuisine, reflecting the country's extraordinary Pacific seafood tradition. The arrisotado variation is Victor Heredia's modern take — borrowing the creamy, saucy texture of Italian risotto but achieved with Peruvian ingredients and technique. The dish is always served slightly saucy (caldoso), never dry. Using day-old cooked rice is a key professional kitchen technique that prevents the rice from breaking down into mush when reheated in the wok.