What is Paella?
Paella has pieces of everything I like: rice, seafood and especially socarrat: crunchy, grilled pieces of rice.
Have you ever eaten a meal even though you haven’t eaten it yet? For me, this dish is paella. It’s one of those bucket list items – I can’t remember how or why I fell in love with paella from its birthplace in Valencia, but I’m sure it has. the connection with paella is like that. nice on such a food show. It is so iconic that people around the world consider it a quintessential Spanish dish, even though it is actually Valencian. I mean, Valencia is in Spain, so everything is fine with me. Many years ago Mike and I went to Valencia and the first thing we ate was paella! We actually got off the train and went to a paella restaurant. Along the way, there is a bunch of Valencian oranges with some beautiful and attractive oranges, but it is clear that the orange trees in the streets of Valencia are not the same ones they use to make juice. Anyway, the paella in Spain is as good as I thought. It’s good that all our food in Valencia is paella or Spanish churros dipped in chocolate. All the paella is good: the meat is fragrant, the beans are tender and the best part, the saffron rice is fragrant and the pieces of fried rice. It was a dream come true.
Paella, pronounced Pay-EH-yah! is a rice dish prepared in a wide, shallow pot over an open fire. Paella means “frying pan” in Valencian. Traditionally, paella includes short rice, green beans, rabbit, chicken, and saffron, but nowadays there are a large number of variations, from seafood to vegetarian. I made paella mixta here, which is basically a mixed paella with meat, seafood, and vegetables from panchancho.com
How to make paella
1. Add the saffron. This will leave both the color and the smell. Put the saffron in a small bowl with hot water and remove it.
2. Grab the protein. Heat olive oil in your hot paella pan and quickly heat your protein: skin-side chicken and chorizo brownies. The shrimp are quickly tossed before being removed to prevent them from cooking.
3. Sweat and aromatics. Add onion, garlic, tomatoes and paprika and cook, stirring, until soft and fragrant. 4. Add water. Carefully add the chicken broth to the water and saffron and bring everything to a boil. Turn the chicken skin side up. 5. Add the rice. Time to sprinkle the rice! Try adding it with a stick, even layer and spread it with a spoon if necessary. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. 6. Add seafood. Nest the clams and put the shrimp on top.
7. Cook on low heat until the clams open and the rice is cooked.
8. Socarrat time! Increase the heat for 1-2 minutes to create a fragrant, shiny rice flour.
9. Relax and enjoy. Cover the paella with aluminum foil and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving. paella dish
