Paella -The emblematic Valencian dish.
Paella- Spain's national dish.
Well it's not actually! It is a Valencian dish (as much as it may aggrieve the Catalans), dating back to the 19th Century, and the small town of Albufera near Valencia.
It a simple dish, with simple ingredients, or at-least it should be!
It DOES NOT include onions or garlic, and it is not served either creamy or oozy. If you want onions, garlic, creamy, and oozy, make a risotto!
There are many variants to the traditional Valencian paella, ranging from a seafood to a vegetarian version, and the addition of artichokes, snails*, or bell peppers. It is also not unknown (especially in the tourist areas) for peas to be added.
*Many consider snails to be one of the integral components of the dish. I am not one of them!
Here I will give you the traditional recipe, without snails.
INGREDIENTS
short grain rice,
a mix of chicken and rabbit meat (you can just use chicken if you wish),
1/2 tin of finely chopped tomato,
a handful of green-beans,
a handful of white-beans (butter beans),
saffron or colourant,
mild paprika (optional),
salt, and olive oil.
STEPS
1)Cover 2/3 of the base of a pre-heated, wide flat-bottomed pan, with olive oil;
If you have a paella-pan then great, but if not, any wide flat-bottomed pan will do.
2)Fry the meat on a medium/low flame;
3)Salt liberally.
4)Once the meat has browned (10-15min), move it to the sides of the pan, and place the beans* in the centre of the pan to fry;
*the butter-beans give a floured taste to the paella, and release starch, so they tend to thicken the stock a little also. It is therefore advisable, not to add too many butter-beans. It is not unusual for them to be eliminated from the recipe.
5)Salt the beans;
6)Once the beans have softened and browned (6-8min), add the tomato*, stir all the ingredients together;
*It is best to use chopped or finely chopped tomato, and there are plenty of tinned tomatoes available. Chunks of tomato don't do anything for the paella!
7)Allow the tomato to reduce (4-5min);
8)When the tomato has become a paste, it's time to add the water.Add sufficient water to just about cover the chicken. You should add a little more than double the amount of water for each gram of rice you intend to add (70-80grms of rice per person). If you use "Bomba" rice, you will need to add three times the water;
9)Add a sachet of food colouring or saffron, depending on what you have available;
10)You can also add a1/2 a teaspoon of mild paprika at this point, although that is very much optional;
11)Bring the stock to boil, and check for salt. The stock should taste "slightly salty", because the rice will reduce the saltiness later;
12)Once the stock begins to boil, withdraw a glass of the stock. This may be useful later;
13)Add the rice. I find 70-80grms per person to be enough;
14)Boil on a high flame for 7-8 minutes, then reduce the flame to medium/low so that it simmers;
15)Leave to cook, WITHOUT STIRRING*, until the rice has absorbed almost all of the stock. If the rice absorbs the stock before it is fully cooked, add the stock you withdrew earlier;
16)THIS BIT IS IMPORTANT! You should turn off the flame whilst the paella still has a little stock. NOT surface stock, but if you gently lift the rice with a fork, there should be residual stock. COVER THE PAN AND ALLOW IT TO REST AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES!
*You should avoid stirring the paella because stirring the rice releases starch and thickens the stock, making the paella pasty.
The paella should end up between slightly moist and dry.
SERVE !!!!!
