Traditional Seafood Paella

If you want to pick a fight amongst paella chefs just criticize their method and authenticity of paella recipe. Truth be told it would be extremely difficult to categorize any paella made in the states as truly traditional and authentic. Spaniards specially those from Valencia have a long and rich tradition with paella and by no means do we want to insult that tradition by our attempts at recreating their world famous culinary export. That being said with all due respect to my fellow Spaniards, I present my version of an authentic paella. Along with this recipe please view my previous video post on making a basic paella.

Paella de Mariscos

Seafood Paella with green mussels, clams, prawns & black mussels.

Recipe: Traditional Seafood Paella

Summary: The ultimate Seafood Paella with assorted shell fish.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • 2 Thai chiles
  • 30 Threads of saffron
  • 2 Medium onions, coarsely chopped
  • 3 Cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 cups of sofrito
  • 2 cups of white wine
  • 6-8 cups of seafood stock
  • 2 tbls of Paella Guy seasoning
  • 1/2lb of cubed pork, chicken & chorizo
  • 3 cups of short grain rice
  • 1/2lb of prawns
  • 1 dozen green lip mussels
  • 1 dozen black mussels
  • 1 dozen manila clams
  • 1/2lb of peas
  • 1/2lb roasted bell peppers
  • Lemons for garnish

 Instructions

  1. Saute pork, chicken & chorizo until browned and set aside
  2. Saute bell peppers 3-4 minutes
  3. Pour olive oil into paella pan followed by Thai peppers
  4. After peppers turn color, throw in onions and saute until slightly browned
  5. Throw in garlic and cook 2-3 minutes followed by pork, chicken & chorizo
  6. Add sofrito & wine, cook until wine evaporates
  7. Add the stock and make sure to keep your rice to liquid ratios at 1:2
  8. Place saffron in mortar and grind to fine dust & add to paella pan
  9. Add rice to pan in even layer
  10. Begin placing your seafood starting with shell fish and ending with prawns.
  11. **See my video post to learn how I decorate paella
  12. After paella comes to rolling boil, turn heat down by 25% and maintain until most of the liquid has evaporated
  13. Continue to cook at a slightly lower flame to avoid burning and to build La Soccarat
  14. **Review my video on La Soccarat for more details on how to accomplish the crusty bed of rice at the bottom of the pan
  15. Remove from heat let stand a few minutes and enjoy with a great bottle of vino, salud!

Preparation time: 1 hour(s)

Cooking time: 55 minute(s)

Culinary tradition: Spanish

My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)