Making the perfect paella

[Dragonbones]

Making the perfect paella

I’ve recently become obsessed with the idea of making and perfecting paella. I blame it on my mainly Spanish ancestry. This is a wonderful dish, one which I vaguely remember really enjoying when I lived briefly in Spain, but I can’t claim to have any authoritative sense of what paella should be like, and I certainly am as clueless as the next person as to how to make it. So I thought I would start a thread to share my newfound passion, tips and questions on ingredients, and so on.

The other day I made my first paella after carefully comparing about 20 online recipes. The result was a very wet, mushy rice (total failure), but an absolutely heavenly flavor (really, better even than anything I remember having in Spain). I’m going to make it again, adjusting things, before being so bold as to post the recipe, but the keys which made it taste so good, I think, were:

1. (for 5-6 portions) a full tsp of finely powdered high-quality saffron (probably 2+ tbsp of threads, tossed in a spice grinder) – I bought my saffron here: http://www.saffron.com/ Note that that’s a lot more saffron than most recipes call for. But the flavor was exquisite, really remarkable.

2. not skipping the chorizo (I only had Costco’s Andouille, which is as close as I could get, so I added paprika and chile powder to compensate). I’ll probably use the chorizo from the Wurst Sausage guys in Hualien next time, but I’ll still add a bit of spices. I’m not interested in arguments from purists who say paella Valenciana has or doesn’t have this or that ingredient, dammit!

3. a variety of only the very freshest seafood (bought live or freshly iced at the wet market) – squid, prawns, very live clams… the only exception was a can of crab meat, which I think really helped the flavor.

4. boiling the prawn heads, legs and shells in chicken broth with the saffron added, and smashing the heads to release the ‘flavor’, then using this as the liquid for the rice (i.e., no water; all broth). The liquid from the crab meat should be used, too.

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Now, as to my mushy rice failure – I used an inexpensive long-grained rice just as an experiment, to see what the result would be, and because it’s easy to buy. I used exactly the amount of liquid called for in an online recipe. At first I thought my proportions of liquid to rice were off, but now I really believe I do need a harder rice that doesn’t go mushy. The question of where to get a good rice for paella or risotto has come up on ‘mosa before, but no one has mentioned a source for the best Spanish rice (Bomba):

@Maoman

Also, where can I get western (non-sticky) rice? My wife is getting good with her Spanish paellas, but the rice is too sticky. What are my options?

[quote=“joesax”]There’s a decent page on paella here;
taunton.com/finecooking/pages/c00113.asp[/quote]

Thanks for that, Joesax. Good page, from which:

The rice should be medium grain. Spanish rice is rounded and short; it absorbs liquid very well, and it stays relatively firm during cooking. Those qualities make it ideal for paella, where the rice grains absorb flavor from the liquid; the rice should be dry and separate when done, not creamy like risotto. The most appreciated variety of Spanish rice is bomba, which can be ordered by mail in the U.S. (see Sources for paella pans and rice), but you’ll also have success with the widely available medium-grain rice sold by Goya. Arborio is an acceptable substitute; long-grain rices, however, are not.

From a couple websites:[quote]Valencia produces virtually all of the rice in Spain… Certain strains of short-grained rice grown in Spain have a unique capacity to absorb large amounts of broth while remaining firm. Each year a precious amount of the very best rice in Spain is cultivated in the village of Calasparra in the neighboring region of Murcia. The producers grow two historic varieties – Sollana (called Calasparra rice), and the coveted Bomba, which was nearly extinct until gourmet chefs recently recognized its superior qualities for producing the perfect paella. [/quote]

[quote=“http://www.eatpaella.co.uk/Tips.asp”]Paella Rice Tips
The best rice to use to make the paella is Valencian rice (a happy coincidence). The most famous are SOS rice and La Fallera. This rice is fatter and shorter than Indian, long grain rice, so it absorbs more liquid and therefore the rice soaks up more flavour. If you are desperado you can always use pudding rice, but the quality is not quite the same.[/quote]

From http://www.hotpaella.com/detail.aspx?ID=20, which sells Bomba rice online: [quote]Bomba rice is the best, and arguably, the only rice to use for paella. Certified origin from the L’Albufera nature preserve. Why is Bomba worth the extra cost? …Bomba rice cooks differently than other types of rice in that the grains widen significantly instead of only becoming longer. The key feature of what makes Bomba the best is that the grain is much harder than any other variety in the world, thus allowing it to absorb more liquid (and thus flavor!) This rice maintains it’s consistency even under extended cooking; it never becomes sticky, fluffy, or mushy. Even though it absorbs more liquid than ordinary rice varieties, the grains remain separate and individually loose from one another; a desired feature for paella cooking.[/quote]

[color=green](I’ve asked this last site for a shipping quote on 5 kg of Bomba; I’ll edit the reply into this shortly.)[/color]

[color=blue]Next step: actually finding Bomba[/color] (aka SOS or La Fallera – I’m not sure whether these are brands or sub-varieties; aka Arroz de Valencia), [color=blue]or Sollana[/color] (aka Calasparra), or even Arborio. One website said Kokuho pearl rice was an ok substitute. Another more reliable one said Goya medium-grain rice would work.

Does anyone know if Mitsukoshi still has Arborio? And which Mitsukoshi is that? (street x street?) [quote=“llary”]OK, so I picked up 1.5kg of the Australian Arborio from Mitsukoshi for NT$240. … I’ve tried loads of different risotto rice varieties and I really don’t think there’s any difference in quality - just a slightly different texture if cooked properly. Personally I prefer Italian Carnaroli because it has a firmer bite…[/quote]

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[color=red]How about Bomba? Anyone have any good sources for Bomba rice here?[/color]

Here are some more tips from various websites:

http://www.andalusia.com/paella/:

[quote]When making paella or any other Spanish rice dish, don’t wash the rice, for it needs its outer coating of starch.
Cook paella and other rice dishes uncovered.[/quote]

[Elegua]

No need to get so fancy - though many people do. Paella is not that hard to make, as long as you get the liquid right.

The best paella I’ve ever had was in the Phillippines, prepared by a Spanish dive master for lunch on a beach over some coals. It was the biggest paella pan I’ve ever seenWith the exception of the seasoning, everything else in the dish was local.

Why was it so good?

• nice fresh chicken parts
• fresh shrimp and fish (fresh caught)
• good fresh local peppers / onions
• a very nice stock made out of local fish
  Seasoning
• saffron (not a lot)
• smoked spanish paprika (picante
• pepper
• salt
• olive oil

No need to get fancy with the rice. In Taiwan we are blessed with good, cheap, starchy short and medium grain rice so that many dishes that people sometimes have trouble with like rice puddings, are a snap - it will make the perfect crust as long as you don’t do the hand rinse business you normally do for cooking rice here.

If you’re worried about the uneven heat on Taiwanese stoves, get a lodge cast-iron pot. Cheap, indestructable, it will become your favorite cooking implement.

[Dragonbones]

I’ll definitely try it with a short or medium local rice, but I still want to find some Bomba. Acc. to this site, which ships internationally via USPS, [quote]Bomba is the very best Calasparra from Murcia. The grain is smaller than our other Calasparra varieties[/quote]. US$10 for 2.2 lbs is pricey, but I might try some.

[the_chief]

So where’d you get the paella pan?

[Dragonbones]

Oh, that’s the one thing I really don’t think is vital. Frying pans of about the same dimensions should work just fine IMO, and my kitchen isn’t big enough to collect more STUFF. I might pick one up on my next trip or online, just because they look nice for serving.

[sandman]

@Dragonbones

Oh, that’s the one thing I really don’t think is vital. Frying pans of about the same dimensions should work just fine

Where are you going to find a skillet of those dimensions? Not going to happen. You’ll make a paella, but without a paella pan it won’t be “perfect,” which is what you alluded to earlier.
If your rice is more than half an inch thick in the pan it’s not going to cook properly and caramelise on the bottom, and THAT is the secret of good paella. Also, you’re going to need to cook it on the balcony over a barbeque or something – the heat needs to cover the entire base of the pan. A Taiwan stove burner won’t cut it.

[Dragonbones]

[quote]Where are you going to find a skillet of those dimensions? Not going to happen. You’ll make a paella, but without a paella pan it won’t be “perfect,” which is what you alluded to earlier.
If your rice is more than half an inch thick in the pan it’s not going to cook properly and caramelise on the bottom, and THAT is the secret of good paella. [/quote]

If the rice needs to be 1/2" thick, that thickness can be done in a non-paella pan of the right diameter for the number of portions desired. I understand that with the right size (and depth of) paella pan, you can use the pan’s dimensions to measure the correct amount of liquid to add, but measuring liquids doesn’t require a particular depth of pan, it just requires knowledge of the proportion of ingredients. Therefore with proper attention to pan diameter and proportion of rice to liquid proportions, pan depth shouldn’t matter, and a paella pan shouldn’t be necessary. At this point I don’t think the argument holds water. However, if I do end up getting a paella pan, I might become a convert – we’ll see!

Your point about Taiwanese gas burners, however, does make sense. (I was looking at double and triple ring burners earlier today, as they are designed to produce the evenness of heat required.) Right now, what I’m doing is moving the pan around on the heat source a lot, especially near the end. It works, but it’s not convenient.

[the_chief]

Sorry, but I’m with Snadman here.
I don’t see how you can get the socorrat on the bottom using just a frying pan or skillet.
Otherwise it’s just fried rice with saffron.

[Joesox]

In answer to the O.Q., you can’t. Spanish friends of mine in the UK made paella a number of times with the proper rice, the proper pan and all the other ingredients. It was always delicious. But they would sit around the kitchen saying “this isn’t the real paella”.

Probably doing it over a real fire helps, as Sandman says. And doubtless there are other good tips and tricks. But I reckon that in the eyes of the Spanish, the perfect paella only exists in some tiny village in Valencia, and even there there’s probably some old man sitting in the corner grumbling about how that isn’t the real paella and it used to be so much better back in the old days.

My point is that you should get as close as you can to authenticity, then relax and enjoy a good meal for what it is.

[Truant]

@joesax

My point is that you should get as close as you can to authenticity, then relax and enjoy a good meal for what it is.

I agree.

Those 7-11 sets of 10 dumplings for 30nt, are exceptional. I am not joking.

[the_chief]

Yeah, the 7-11 paella is the best, for my money…

[Dragonbones]

@joesax

In answer to the O.Q., you can’t. Spanish friends of mine in the UK made paella a number of times with the proper rice, the proper pan and all the other ingredients. It was always delicious. But they would sit around the kitchen saying “this isn’t the real paella”.

Of course! That’s part of the paella culture. Spaniards are said to bicker endlessly over paella, criticize the dish for never being authentic enough, and so on, all while getting pickled with a good wine or sangria. It’s part of the Quest.

Probably doing it over a real fire helps, as Sandman says.

Yeah, the broader heat and smokiness help, no doubt! I’d love to make a real one over a camp fire, with a wild rabbit. Except cleaning it would be grisly, and Dragonbabe wouldn’t speak to me for a week.

I reckon that in the eyes of the Spanish, the perfect paella only exists in some tiny village in Valencia, and even there there’s probably some old man sitting in the corner grumbling about how that isn’t the real paella and it used to be so much better back in the old days.

Yeah, that’s pretty much the image I get too. I’m not a purist, though. I just want it to be delicious, perfected to my own tastes. And the flavor of this last one was heavenly, so if I can just get that rice fixed… socorrat would be a bonus, of course.

My point is that you should get as close as you can to authenticity, then relax and enjoy a good meal for what it is.

Yup. Now where’s my damned Bomba rice?!

[Joesox]

By the way, Dragonbones, how are you pronouncing your “paella”? Whenever people talk about it on TV they always use the recommended Spanish beginner-textbook pronunciation of “paelya”. But among people I knew from all over Spain and from most countries in Central and South America too, only a couple of people used that pronuncation: one from Barcelona (which is different anyway) and one from Valladolid. Everybody else pronounced their "ll"s like the “s” in “treasure”.

[Dragonbones]

If by ‘paelya’ you mean a pronounced ‘L’ sound (pah-el-ya), no, absolutely not. I’ve lived in Spain and Mexico, and have never ever heard this.

The “LL” is pronounced either as a ‘Y’ sound or with the soft ‘j’-like sound in ‘de jour’ (just another way to express the same pronunciation as your description “s” in “treasure”). I grew up speaking Mexican Spanish, with my father being from Celaya, Guanajuato and Mexico City, and my own Spanish mostly acquired starting age 11 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. My pronunciation is the ‘Y’ version, so I say

pah-eh-ya, with the stress bolded. The animal llama (yama, not Lama) and all other instances of the double L are similarly pronounced.

[Joesox]

[quote=“Dragonbones”]If by ‘paelya’ you mean a pronounced ‘L’ sound (pah-el-ya), no, absolutely not. I’ve lived in Spain and Mexico, and have never ever heard this.[/quote]Right. But that’s the pronunciation that phrasebooks and beginner textbooks recommend.

Actually, come to think of it, those two friends from Valladolid and Catalunya didn’t really pronounce an “l” sound, not strongly anyway. It was more like a “y”, as you described. But I still think the soft “j” is more common, in Spain as well as elsewhere.

[elektronisk]

@sandman

[quote=“Dragonbones”]Oh, that’s the one thing I really don’t think is vital. Frying pans of about the same dimensions should work just fine

Where are you going to find a skillet of those dimensions? Not going to happen. You’ll make a paella, but without a paella pan it won’t be “perfect,” which is what you alluded to earlier.
If your rice is more than half an inch thick in the pan it’s not going to cook properly and caramelise on the bottom, and THAT is the secret of good paella. Also, you’re going to need to cook it on the balcony over a barbeque or something – the heat needs to cover the entire base of the pan. A Taiwan stove burner won’t cut it.[/quote]

I agree with sandman and the chief. :forehead slap:

Does anyone know where to obtain a proper pan locally? If not I can use some guanxi to get a few. I want one too.

[the_chief]

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a thorough scouring of The Land of a Thousand Mitsukoshis landed one, there’s no end to the high rent yuppie dilletantage that’s catered to over there.
But the Inkskernet would probably be pretty easy, too.

[elektronisk]

@the chief

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a thorough scouring of The Land of a Thousand Mitsukoshis landed one, there’s no end to the high rent yuppie dilletantage that’s catered to over there.

Your wife makes you take her there?

Why are you wearing a mask in your avatar picture? You have a great body so nobody will notice your face. Don’t be so self-conscious.

[Dragonbones]

@elektronisk

Does anyone know where to obtain a proper pan locally? If not I can use some guanxi to get a few. I want one too.

If they’re available locally, I’ll get one too. I checked www.paellapans.com, but they want $50 for shipping, which is twice the cost of the pan! Maybe I’ll ask my brother to mail me one from home by surface mail. That should be about $25 shipping, I’m guessing.

[Truant]

Have you tried Sogo?

They have a pretty impressive Kitchen equipment section on about the 10th floor at the Zhong Xiao branch. Maybe others.

Even had a new knob for my Alessi Kettle, right there in stock.