The Best Seafood Paella Recipe
The Best Seafood Paella Recipe is a one pot seafood, rice dish that is filled with delicious flavors and it takes a few steps to reach ultimate rice perfection.
ARE YOU READY FOR A PARTY?
It’s time to gather family and friends for a banquet!
This Spanish Paella is exactly that: a feast of colored rice, clams, fish, mussels and shrimp, smoked sausage and saffron. This paella does not require any accompaniment other than a glass of a good wine.
I’m sure everyone will be delighted with this delicious rice.
WHAT IS PAELLA?
Paella is Valenciana word that means frying pan. The dish gets its name from it. The Origins of paella come from Valencia, Spain, where fishing and rice cultivation were dominant in this region.
The paella dish was prepared on a wood stove by farm workers, whom gathered what was available to them around the rice fields. This often included tomatoes, onions, snails, rabbit or duck was a common addition, or chicken.
DO I NEED A PAELLA PAN TO MAKE THE BEST SEAFOOD PAELLA RECIPE?
The answer is no. If you don’t have a paella pan , don’t you worry! You can make the paella in a traditional pan, Just make sure it is large one!
You can use an iron pot or any large pot you have in your kitchen.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST PAELLA AT HOME
It’s great if you can cook paella on a firewood stove to make the dish more traditional, Or on the grill, but you can make this recipe on the stove.
THE BASIC INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THE BEST SEAFOOD PAELLA RECIPE
The Rice
The Rice is the essencial ingredient for paella, therefore, the choice of the rice is important. The Best paella is made with the best type of rice. The Bomba Rice is perfect rice for paella, it’s medium-grain rice that absorbs liquid well but maintains some firmness when cooking. But if you can find it, the substitute is the Italian Arborio rice or Calrose.
The degree for best paella is also the Fish stock, when it comes to a simmer, don’t stir it. While the paella cooks, the rice stays on the bottom and it forms a golden crust . This rice crust is called socarrat and is adored by true paella lovers like me.
SEAFOOD AND CHORIZO
I chose shrimp and mussels, clams, for this seafood version of paella and smoked chorizo. You can substitute for other sausages if you wish, and add a little bit of smoked paprika to taste to obtain your preferred flavor.
To clean scrub the clams, and mussels, scrape away their beards with a knife and scrub them. Discard any shellfish with broken shells. Soak your shellfish in the salted water or clean seawater for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. If you don’t like shellfish, you can use only fish and shrimp, even chicken.
SEAFOOD BROTH OR THE FISH BOUILLON
For this seafood paella, you can use real fish broth, chicken stock if you like or a fish Bouillon
The fish broth adds more flavor and as it cooks it will release liquids adding flavor to the rice. Be sure to taste the broth and season it with salt, if necessary.
SAFFRON AND THE SOFRITO ( SEASONING)
Saffron is also a key ingredient. It gives the Paella it’s red-orange color, and flavor and the special aroma to the perfect paella. It’s signature of Paella as well as rice.
Saffron is an expensive spice, but you only need a few strands to season an entire dish of paella. We add it to the hot broth to dissolve it, while adding the rice.
Most well-stocked supermarkets should have saffron and you only use a few strands each dish so it’s worth buying.
Paella Sofrito chopped onion, minced garlic, salt, tomato, bell green and red peppers, and black pepper to taste.
The Best Seafood Paella
Equipment
- Paella pan
Ingredients
- 6 cups seafood broth or 1 seafood bouillon cube
- 1 tsp saffron
- 1 1/2 pounds firm-fleshed fish, cut in bite-sized pieces
- 12 large shrimp in shells
- 12 mussels
- 12 clams, small
- Sea salt
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp parsley, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 8 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 6 scallions, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 green pepper ( opcional )
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 2 cups paella Bomba Rice, or Arborio ( any short- grain rice)
- Lemon Wedge ( opcional)
- Rosemary ( Taste)
- 1 Bay leaf
- ground black pepper ( opcional)
Instructions
PREPARATION:
- STEP 1: SEAFOOD
- Wash and pat dry with a paper towel the fish and shrimps and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Next Scrub the clams, mussels well, scrape away their beards with a knife and scrub them. Discard any shellfish with broken shells. You can soak your shellfish in the salted water for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator before wash them.
STEP 2: STEEP THE SAFFRON
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a boil. Add the saffron and salt. Turn off the heat and let the saffron steep for at least 15 minutes. Taste and add more salt, if needed. If you use the Seafood Bouillon cube, in a large pot, add 6 cups of the water and let it get hot, add the cube and let it dissolve completely. Next stir the saffron.
STEP 3: MAKE THE GARLIC/ HERBS PASTE
- Use a mortar and pestle to mash parsley, garlic, thyme and a 1/8 tsp salt into a paste; stir in paprika, ground black pepper . Add water if necessary to form a paste.
STEP 4:
- Heat 6 tablespoons of oil In a 15" paella pan over medium- high heat and quickly brown the fish for 2 minutes. Do not fully cook them. Remove to a warm plate. Next Fry the chorizo and set it aside.
STEP 4: COOK THE SOFRITO
- Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil, and add the 1/2 teaspoon of garlic/herbs paste,following the onion, peppers, bay leaf, rosemary and sauté for about 7 minutes on a low heat until soft and translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes, scallions, and season with salt and a pinch of sugar and cook for 10 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally.
STEP 5:
- Add the chorizo and pour in the hot broth and bring it to a boil. Sprinkle the rice evenly across the pan. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring rice occasionally. Add all reserved fish (except shrimp). Stir in the remaining garlic paste. Taste for salt. Do not stir after this point. Low the heat, continue to simmer until rice is no longer soupy but enough liquid remains to continue cooking the rice (about 10 min). Add extra water if necessary. Remove the bay leaves before adding the seafood.
STEP 6:
- Arrange shrimp, clams and mussels over rice, placing edges of mussel and clam shells so they open facing up. Cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until rice is almost done. Remove pan from the heat and cover with aluminum foil. Let sit 10 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges (optional).
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