This seafood paella recipe, like recipes in general with seafood, is usually unique and special to cook. They always mean the perfect excuse for preparing a date with oneself, cooking delicious food, and drinking good wine.
Superficially, it looks like risotto, as the dish is made with rice, meats, and vegetables cooked together in a large skillet, also called paella or paellera in some regions of Spain. However, the cooking process of paella is slightly different from risotto. Primarily, rice is never fried in a paella, although it is for making risotto. It can be prepared at home for a dinner party, but be prepared to spend some serious preparation time, as there are many ingredients in a good paella.
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About seafood paella: What is the origin?
Paella is a dish originating and characteristic of Valencia, Spain. Its main ingredient is rice, and it is cooked with fish, seafood, poultry, meat, vegetables, and legumes, among other ingredients.
This dish is cooked in a paella pan. It is a round, shallow metal container with two side handles. There are different paella recipes: Valencian paella (the authentic one), meat paella, seafood paella, mixed paella, black paella (black rice), white paella, and more. In case not having one, it can be substituted with another container that has a flat, round, and large enough bottom,
Beyond being a typical Spanish dish, seafood paella is famous worldwide and can be found in different countries of Latin America.
What is the best rice to make paella?
The main ingredient in this recipe is rice.
For this dish, the rice used initially in Spain and recommended by experts is bomba rice, a type of round rice famous for allowing the grain to absorb a lot of flavor without losing its shape and remaining separate from the other grains of rice. This is the perfect rice to cook any paella, and it is generally recommended to use four measures of water for each measure of rice, cooking it for about 18 minutes.
Choose the seafood you like the most. Any edible invertebrate marine animal, including all types of mollusks and crustaceans such as shrimp, clams, lobsters, prawns, squid, and oysters, among others.
Depending on your preference, chicken meat cut in pieces can be added. This is a good option since chicken and yellow rice are very combinable, especially if the plan is to make paella for the whole family; this will be the most economical and not less tasty option.
Seafood Paella Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper.
- 1 green bell pepper.
- 2 onions.
- 7 oz double Carolina or bomba rice.
- 1 tbsp. sweet paprika.
- 2 garlic.
- Saffron or rice seasoning.
- 17 oz of squid.
- 7 oz of mussels.
- 14 oz of shrimp.
- 7 oz of clams.
- 7 oz of cockles.
- 24 oz of vegetable broth.
How to make it step by step
The proportions depend a lot on the fire and the size of the paella. The one that never fails is to add three times the volume of water that we will use for rice.
- Wash all the seafood thoroughly and reserve them. If necessary, brush the clams. Remove the skin from the squid and cut it into slices.
- Fry the prawns in olive oil for 5 minutes and set aside.
- Then fry the squid for 5 minutes more. Add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, and tomato chopped in small squares, add salt, and cook for 8 minutes over low heat.
- After frying, add the rice and distribute it evenly in the paella pan. At this moment, add the saffron or rice seasoning together with the broth.
- Let it cook without stirring for 25 or 30 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, add a spoonful of sweet paprika, if it lacks, add more water.
- Add the clams and cook for 5 minutes so that they open. The ones that remain closed should be discarded! Finally, add the mussels and cockles. Let it cook for 10 more minutes at lowest heat.
- Add the prawns and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Let the paella rest for a few minutes, covered with a large cloth before serving.
