Spanish · Valencia · main

Fideuà de Gandia

Fideuà de Gandia reads umami 6.1, citrus 5.4 and richness 5.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Spanish · Valencia main, about 54 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 7.0 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 4.9 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 6.8 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 3.0 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.4 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.0 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.1 · Citrus 5.4 · Richness 5.1 · Sourness 4.9 · Marine & Briny 4.9 · Fruity 4.4 · Salinity 4.0 · Allium 3.7 · Smoke 2.6 · Sweetness 1.8 · Bitterness 1.4 · Floral 1.4 · Earthy 1.4 · Warm Spice 1.3 · Herbaceous 0.9 · Nutty 0.9

What's in it (14)

• pasta — 400 g
• monkfish — 300 g
• langoustines — 400 g
• cuttlefish — 300 g
• fish stock — 1100 g
• tomatoes — 300 g
• nyora peppers — 15 g
• garlic — 25 g
• saffron — 0 g
• spanish smoked paprika — 3 g
• extra virgin olive oil — 110 g
• salt — 12 g
• aioli — 200 g
• lemon — 100 g

Time & effort: about 54 min (44 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 85.3 kcal, 5.3 g protein, 2.2 g fat, 10.9 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. The story in Gandia is that a ship's cook was losing all the rice to a greedy skipper and swapped in pasta to put him off. Whatever the truth, fideuà is now its own dish with its own competition, and the noodles behave quite differently from rice: they drink less liquid and they stand on end at the finish.
2. Heat the oil in a paella pan and sear the langoustines over high heat for 1 minute a side. Lift them out. Add the cuttlefish and cook 5 minutes over medium heat until it squeaks and begins to colour.
3. Soak the nyoras in hot water 4 minutes, scrape the pulp from the skins and add it to the pan with the garlic for 2 minutes.
4. Add the grated tomato and cook it down 15 minutes at a steady simmer until dark and jammy and the oil separates. Off the heat, stir in the pimentón.
5. Now the step that makes this a fideuà and not pasta in fish soup: add the dry fideus and toast them in the sofrit over medium heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until they smell nutty and turn the colour of straw. Undertoasted noodles go slimy.
6. Pour in the hot stock with the saffron, spread the noodles level, and boil hard for 8 minutes without stirring. Lay the monkfish cubes on the surface for the last 4 minutes and return the langoustines.
7. Finish under a hot grill for 4 minutes. The noodle ends dry out and lift, so the surface bristles upright — that is the look you are after, and it is how a good fideuà is judged. Season with the salt, rest 5 minutes off the heat, and serve with allioli and lemon; a spoonful of allioli stirred into your own portion is the local way.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Arròs a Banda — Spanish · Valencia
• Shrimp and Grits with Andouille Sausage — Southern
• Deviled Portuguese Grilled Lobsters — Portuguese
• Grilled Shrimp and Andouille Skewers — Cajun/Creole · Cajun
• Bacon-Wrapped Scallops — American

Keep reading: what umami, citrus, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.