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Paella Valenciana


Wednesday, April 25, 2007



Each time a visit is made to one of the Canaries or to mainland Spain, I will always, always make it a point to have two particular dishes during our sojourn - Prawns in Garlic Oil and Paella Valenciana.

Today I thought I'd be adventurous and try the Paella out myself. I had to improvise with the pan though since I didn't have a proper Paella one which is shallow and flat. I used my wok instead and cursed myself for not fetching one back when we visited Spain earlier this year. I was standing outside a cookware store in Valencia and staring right back at me from the storefront were rows upon row of Paella pans in every size imaginable. Don't forget to come back for it later, I reminded myself. Of course I promptly forgot. I got distracted by Balenciaga shoes an hour later, you see. Next time.....


Well, I did just fine with the wok and taste wise, it is almost what it should be but there's a certain something missing. Guess I can't recreate the feeling of warm salty sea breezes and gorgeous sunsets while dining al fresco by the beach. Oh well, that's what holidays are for.

Ideally, I would have liked to use mussels in their shells but these are out of season so I had to make do with the fresh precooked ones. The shells would have made the dish even more visually stunning.

The other thing is this. I didn't elaborate much on the actual cooking since this was my virgin attempt and I feel I have room, a whole mansion full in fact, for improvement. So until I get at least the right pan and try out other similar Paella recipes, I'm going to quietly practice away and leave the talking to the experts.

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The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 1:39 pm

9 calories
Comments:
Errmmm....so after you have master this dish, can I have the recipe pls??? :p
 
Feel like sinking my teeth into my monitor! Looks good! You are back with a vengeance with your cooking!
 
LOL... thanks ladies! Still got a long way to go with the paella. I must learn how to do this properly!

jq: Yes, my cooking mojo is back. Hopefully it stays for a long while. Unfortunately, it eats into my stitching time too. Can't have your cake and eat it right? :P
 
Hmm, it looks really good. I did quite a bit of the dish a while ago(used to live in Spain) and one of the important rules is to not stir the rice before the end of the cooking. And the ingredients (seafood, chicken etc) give the flavour to the rice so you have to dose them well and cook them in the right amount of olive oil etc.

As for the gambas/almeras al pil pil, that's my favourite tapas and starter dish, great for dipping bread in and so very easy to make. Viva España!
 
Lotus: I observed the no stirring rule and the rice caramelised very nicely at the bottom. I enjoyed scraping and eating those bits. Sort of like our Sar Po Farn.

I have yet to find a tapas or starter I didn't like yet, pig that I am.

Yes, viva España indeed!
 
It does look really good even though you didn't use the paella pan. My husband and his good friend shared to buy a proper paella pan and so far they tried cooking it once and the result was SUPER LEKKER :-) With chicken it does give flavour to the rice also. I requested for lots of seafood cos I am a seafood lover :-)
 
Magdeline, that does it! I'm going to get me a 100% made in Spain paella pan. LOL. I didn't use chicken this time. Instead, I used chorizo sausages which I had sitting in the fridge.
 
hey, you can open up restaurant liao. So beautifully presented and I am sure it taste sedap!
 
Thanks precious moments. It did taste good but I'm not resting on my laurels. Haha.
 
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