Genuine Paella

Many moons ago I sent out a request for genuine Spanish recipes.  The best I got was from Sara from Spain.  I used the recipe and it went off a treat.  I cooked it up and it was great.  Unfortunately I lost the photos in an unexpected camera purge but you will have to believe me this one is worth trying.  Here is the recipe.  Thanks a lot Sara!

“-ingredients ( for 2 people)

200 gr. rice (sushi rice will work, not long grain or basmati )

1 big squid

100 gr. clams

6 jumbo shrimps or 100 gr. small shrimps

fish stock made out of fish meat, heads etc.( not tuna dashi) measured this way : take your weighed rice and measure it by volume, let’s say it is 2 cups. then you’ll need 2 1/2 cups of stock. this is very important for the final result. you must know how much liquid the type of rice you are using is able to absorb until done and not overcooked. i believe sushi rice is very similar to Spanish rice for paella.

2 cloves of garlic

1 ripe red tomato or equivalent amount of tomato sauce

1 Tbsp. parsley

saffron or turmeric- about 1 tsp.

salt, pepper to taste

1/4 olive oil or sunflower or any mild one you can get ( not sesame oil!)

method:

wash well all your seafood, chop squid into rings.

heat oil in your pan and add the garlic cloves on medium heat until they brown and soften up. take them out and mash them. reserve for later.

add well chopped tomato or sauce to the pan and fry it on medium. when done, add squid pieces and stir a bit. add rice and stir again. then add hot fish stock, salt, pepper, chopped parsley, saffron or turmeric and the mashed, cooked garlic. set heat on high and when it starts boiling hard add clams, shrimps or similar shellfish. now you start counting down time. let cook in high for 5 minutes. low heat to medium-low for 10 minutes and then turn heat to the lowest for another 5 minutes. total time 18-20 minutes until rice is done and all stock has been absorbed. after this 18-20 minutes put heat off, cover the pan with a lid or a tea towel and let the rive rest for 5 minutes. serve and enjoy!

notice it is difficult to make paella and also it never involves green peppers or onions etc. the way many people think. all the taste comes from the shellfish and a good fish stock made the European way : lots of fish meats, spines, heads even shrimps etc. slowly boiled with onion, tomato and other vegetables and then stained.”