Did you know March 27th is the annual observance of National Spanish Paella Day? Neither did I! And what a coincidence, I made Shrimp Paella last weekend and wanted to put the recipe on my blog. What exactly is paella, one may ask? It is a rice dish from Valencia, Spain, that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century. The tradition was that workers in the fields would make paella in a flat pan over a fire, using whatever ingredients they could find, like rabbits, snails, and vegetables. The modern paella (thank goodness, I don’t think I can find rabbits or snails easily!) became more popular and spread to every region of Spain and worldwide, with different variations emerging, including seafood, chorizo, or even squid ink. During our recent trip to Spain, we had the best seafood paella in Seville at a restaurant called Arroceria Criaito Triana at Plaza Altozano Triana Market. It was recommended by our guide, who’s from Toledo.
As time goes by, we’re back in the United States, and we have craved paella. There are a couple of our favorite tapas restaurants in San Antonio where we currently live, but as someone who loves cooking, I really wanted to try making it on my own. How hard could that be?! Right!? I was trying to convince myself. Let’s be honest, it was intimidating at first, coming from someone who loves rice and owns a rice cooker, which you can just push the button and wait until it’s done. The trick to the best paella is once you add the liquid and rice, no stirring after that. Oh boy, how do we know when it’s cooked and don’t burn the bottom or end up with raw or soggy rice? Also, it’s a little tricky to create the socarrat (caramelized burnt rice underneath). Mmmmm…. challenge accepted!
What I didn’t tell you is when we sat at the restaurant in Seville, we sat right outside of the kitchen, so I made friends and observed the chef cooking multiple pans of paella at the same time. I watched him make ours. I wrote down the steps and timing and hoped I could come back and try to make it at home. It’s truly an art form. 100% respect to the chef!
Here’s the picture to back up my story.
First things first, I needed a paella pan. I ordered it from Amazon.com. I bought the 13-inch enamel one for 6 servings.
As for the paella rice, I went with this brand below.
Another not-so-secret ingredient are saffron and sweet smoked Spanish paprika. I got the saffron from Spain and the regular smoked paprika from our local grocery store, but you can also find them on Amazon.com. I feel like they sell everything in the world now. Also, if you can find a good seafood mix, go for it. I couldn’t find fresh squids and mussels, so I just went with shrimp.
Let’s cook some food!
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