Seafood Paella Recipe (step by step), Saffron Infused Rice with Giant Head Prawn, Mussles and Blue Crab

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Seafood Paella Recipe (Paella alla Marisco)

Paella is a Valencian cooking metal casing, and a rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain. There are three widely known types of paella: Valencian paella (Spanish: paella valenciana), seafood paella (Spanish: paella de marisco) and mixed paella (Spanish: paella mixta), but there are many others as well. Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat (rabbit, chicken, duck), land snails, beans and seasoning. Seafood paella replaces meat and snails with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. Mixed paella is a free-style combination of meat, seafood, vegetables, and sometimes beans. Most paella chefs use calasparra or bomba rices for this dish. Other key ingredients include saffron and olive oil.

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Seafood Paella Recipe

On the Mediterranean coast, Valencians used seafood instead of meat and beans to make paella. Valencians regard this recipe as authentic as well. In this recipe the seafood is served in the shell. A variant on this is paella del senyoret which utilizes seafood without shells. Later, however, Spaniards living outside of Valencia combined seafood with meat from land animals and mixed paella was born. As other cultures set out to make paella, the dish invariably acquired regional influences. Consequently, paella recipes went from being relatively simple to including a wide variety of seafood, meat, sausage, (even chorizo) vegetables and many different seasonings.However, the most globally popular recipe is seafood paella.

In Spain, but not in Valencia, mixed paella is very popular. Some restaurants in Spain (and many in the United States) that serve this mixed version, refer to it as Valencian paella. However, Valencians insist only the original two Valencian recipes are authentic. They generally view all others as inferior, not genuine or even grotesque. Recipes for this dish vary somewhat, even in Valencia. Below is a recipe by Juanry Segui, a prominent Valencian chef. Paella usually has a layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the pan called socarrat in Spain. This is considered a delicacy there and is essential to a good paella. The toasted rice develops on its own if the paella is cooked over a burner or open fire. If cooked in an oven, however, it will not. To correct this, place the paellera over a high flame while listening to the rice toast at the bottom of the pan. Once the aroma of toasted rice wafts upwards, remove it from the heat. The paella must then sit for about five minutes (most recipes recommend the paella be covered with a towel at this point) to absorb the remaining broth

Ingredient :

1 giant head prawn, about 350 gr
350 gr green mussle
3 @200 gr blue crab
1 onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 green chillies, thinly sliced
2-3 medium size ripe tomatoes, pureed
2 cups uncooked arborio rice or other short-grain rice, soaked 15 minutes before cook
a pinch of saffron
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 cups chicken/seafood broth
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp margarine

Instruction :

Heat up margarine, saute onion and garlic until fragrant and slightly browned

Add the tomato puree, white wine and broth,stir occationally and bring to boil

Add green chillies

and saffron

Add the giant head prawn and blue crab, boil about half cooked,remove from the pan, drain

Add the mussle, boil about half cooked,remove from the pan, drain

Ass the rice, stir occationally and simmer with covered about 17-20 minutes until cooked

Nearly done, put the giant prawn, mussles and blue crab back.
Simmer another 5 minutes to make a rice crust in the bottom of the pan, let it rest awhile before serving

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