Paella -The emblematic Valencian dish.
- Aug 14, 2017
- 3 min read
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.
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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!
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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;
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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;
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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.
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SERVE !!!!!
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