🌟 Spanish seafood rice Paella

🛒 Ingredients (Serves 4)

Rice base

• Spanish Paella rice (short-grain Bomba rice or Arborio) – about 300g 🍚
• Chicken or seafood broth – about 800ml (must be hot)
• Saffron 🌼 – a little (soak in warm water or broth and add to noodles to release golden color and aroma)

Seafood ingredients

• Prawns/tiger prawns🦐 – 6–8 pieces (deveined, but keep the shells on for a more fragrant taste)
• Mussels 🐚 – about 300g (wash and remove beards)
• Squid 🦑 – about 200g (cut into rings)
• Scallops – 4–6 pieces (optional, adds more luxury)
• White fish fillet (bass/cod)🐟 – about 150g (cut into pieces)

Vegetable ingredients

• Onion – 1 (chopped)
• Garlic – 3–4 cloves (chopped)
• Green Peas – about 100g (frozen or fresh)
• Bell Peppers 🌶️ – 1–2 (shredded or diced)
• Tomato 🍅 – 2 (peeled and chopped; or use 200g canned tomatoes)

Seasoning

• Olive Oil – 3–4 tablespoons
• Paprika – 1 teaspoon
• Salt and black pepper – to taste
• Lemon 🍋 – half (cut into wedges and squeeze the juice before serving)

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👩🏻🍳 Cooking process

Step 1: Prepare the soup base

1. Soak the saffron in warm water or broth and let it sit for 10 minutes. The color will gradually release.
2. Keep the broth hot so that it can be easily heated when adding rice.

Step 2: Sauté the base (Sofrito)

1. Heat olive oil in a paella pan (or large shallow pan) over medium heat.
2. Sauté chopped onion and garlic.
3. Add shredded red bell pepper and chopped tomatoes, stir-fry until the water is dried up and a rich tomato sauce base is formed.
4. Add chili powder and stir well.

👉 This "Sofrito" is the soul of Spanish paella. Patiently stir-fry it until it is fragrant and it will have a deep flavor.

Step 3: Process seafood🦐🐚

1. Quickly stir-fry shrimp, squid and fish fillets until half cooked, then remove and set aside.
2. The mussels should be added last and baked until they open, otherwise they will be overcooked.

Step 4: Cooking 🍚

1. Add rice to Sofrito noodles and stir-fry until the rice grains absorb the oil.
2. Pour in the saffron broth and gently spread over the rice, without stirring (to ensure even cooking).
3. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the rice absorbs the liquid.

Step 5: Add seafood and vegetables🥦

1. Place half-cooked shrimp, squid, and fish fillet on top of the rice.
2. Add green beans and mussels, and arrange the seafood evenly for a more attractive appearance.
3. Continue cooking for 8–10 minutes, until the liquid is almost absorbed.

Step 6: Finishing (Soccarrat 🔥)

1. Lower the heat to low and bake for 5 minutes longer, until the rice is slightly caramelized and becomes "Soccarrat" (the Spanish favorite crispy rice base).
2. Turn off the heat, cover with a clean cloth or tin foil and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Step 7: Serve on a plate 🎉

1. Sprinkle with fresh herbs (Parsley 🌿) before going on stage.
2. Put lemon wedges 🍋 on the side and squeeze the juice when eating for a more refreshing taste.

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💡 Editor's Tips

• Use short-grain rice. 👉 Bomba rice is the most authentic, absorbs soup well and won't rot. If you can't find it in Hong Kong, use Arborio (stew rice) instead.
• Don't stir it too much👉 The biggest feature of Paella is that the rice needs to be cooked evenly. If you keep stirring it in the middle, it will cook like stew.
• Saffron is the soul👉 Although expensive, a small pinch is enough, with irreplaceable fragrance and golden color.
• The deluxe version 👉 adds lobster 🦞 and clams 🐚, which makes it look super impressive.
• Lazy version 👉 It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a Paella wok, you can use a large flat-bottomed wok. The key is to make it shallow and wide.

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🎯 Summary

Paella is a dish that exudes beauty, flavor, and flavor: vibrant red, yellow, and green colors 🌈, the freshness of seafood 🦐🐟, and the charred aroma of rice 🔥. Every bite is imbued with the sunny Spanish air ☀️. I think the best part is that the dish symbolizes sharing, with everyone gathering around the large wok to share the experience. 💕