seafood paella

tried paella couple of times about a year ago. at the time it was just passable, so i did not post.

today i decided to give it another go. i used my favourite chef john of foowishes.com shortcut oven-baked method.

medium prawns & squid fried with butter

for seafood, i cooked 9 medium prawns (lightly seasoned with fish sauce & white pepper) in 2 teaspoon butter at high heat to about 90% cooked, and did the same for the squid.

for the stock i sautéed the heads & shells of 9 medium prawns in olive oil & tumeric & added 500ml of chicken stock & boiled for an hour.

i had leftover leek, celery, red capsicum from a recent 8pax homecooked dinner. i finely chopped them, and sautéed in olive oil with chinese sausage (substitute for expensive chorizo) with a teaspoon of tumeric (substitute for expensive saffron), together with chopped yellow onions & garlic.

i then added 1 cup of shokaku rice (a USA short grain rice for sushi, which is a lot cheaper than aborio) & mixed well, then i laid the thinly sliced leek & red capsicum on top, added enough chicken/prawn stock to cover the rice & brought to boil. once boiling i placed the oven-proof skillet in a preheated 210degC oven for 16mins. i tasted the paella. the flavour was excellent, and in this case as the stock already had some salt in it & mindful that the prawns & squid were also seasoned i did not add more salt. the paella was about 85%-90% cooked with the centre slightly hard.

i set it aside, and when ready to serve dinner, i boiled the stock & added it over the paella to just cover the rice & heat over high heat & placed the pre cooked prawns & squid on the rice. this cooked the paella to al dente & the seafood. the taste was excellent from the sweetness of the vegetable, stock & also the prawns & squid.

it was a beautiful dish to behold & the flavour was superb. i added a bit too much stock & not wanting to overcook the paella, the rice was just very slightly wet which was ok except i did not get the burnt bottom, which was ok. will try to have that next time. 🙂

Ingredients-

• 10 medium prawns (shelled & de-veined)
• 1 large or 2 medium squid (cross-cut)
• 1 yellow onion (chopped)
• 1 stalk celery (chopped)
• 1 red capsicum (chopped & finely sliced)
• 1-2 stalk leek (chopped & finely sliced)
• 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 500ml prawn & chicken stock
• 1 cup shokaku rice (or aborio)
• 1-2 chinese sausage (or chorizo)
• 2 teaspoon tumeric (or saffron)

Directions-

1. seafood – cook medium prawns (lightly seasoned with fish sauce & white pepper) in 2 teaspoon butter at high heat to about 90% cooked. do the same for the squid.
2.  stock – sautéed the prawn heads & shells  in olive oil & tumeric & add 500ml of chicken stock & boil for an hour.
3.  cook paella – finely chop leek, celery, red capsicum, yellow onion & garlic. sauté in olive oil with chorizo & saffron. add 1 cup of aborio rice & mix well, then lay the thinly sliced leek & red capsicum on top. add enough chicken/prawn stock to cover the rice & brought to boil. once boiling place the oven-proof skillet in a preheated 210degC oven for 16mins. taste the paella & add salt to taste if desired. the paella is about 85%-90% cooked with the centre slightly hard. set iaside, and when ready to serve, boil the stock & add it over the paella to just cover the rice . add the pre cooked prawns & squid on the rice. cook the paella over high heat to cook the paella to al dente & the seafood. serve.