Cook with Patsitivity: Vibrant Seafood Paella

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This recipe was inspired by my visit at Ipar's Restaurante Y Bar De Tapas a few months back. I've been experimenting on dishes with foreign origin and this one's another successful new dish I made at the comfort of my home.

What you'll need for this recipe

• Regular white rice, 1 cup
• Glutinuos rice, 1 cup
• Shrimp, cleaned and devined, 250g or as desired
• Chorizo, big, 4-5 pieces (the more the meatier your paella will be)
• Squid, big, 1-2 pieces, cleaned and sliced
• Red Onion, 1 piece, minced
• Garlic, half bulb, minced
• Achiote, 10g
• Red Bell Pepper, 2-3 pieces, minced
• Mussels, half kilo
• Lemon, 1 whole, sliced in wedges
• Diced tomatoes in can, 1 whole can (you can add fresh tomatoes, too!)
• Rice wine, about 1-1.5 cups
• Chicken Stock (Knorr chicken cubes melted in water), 1-2 cups
• Water, 1-2 cups or as needed
• Cooking oil, 2-3 tbsp

Regular Rice	Glutinous Rice
Shrimp	Sliced Squid
Minced Onion	Minced Garlic
Achiote	Minced Red Pepper
-	-
Mussels	Chorizo
Wedged Lemon	All ingredients
Canned diced tomato	Rice Wine
-	-

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Step-by-step cooking instructions

Paella is one of those high-priced dishes and is seldom sold in most Filipino restaurants. Making this dish made me understand why this is so. Let's start!

• The best way to keep all the flavors of the ingredients is to use a single pan from start to end. I did just that and I can attest to this technique's effectiveness in retaining the flavors.

• In a wide, shallow pan, add a little water wait until it simmers then add the chorizo. Let the chorizo cook in its own oil over medium heat. If you're using a nonstick pan, you might be tempted to add oil to prevent the chorizo from sticking further in the pan. But don't give in, we don't want this paella to be oily. You can add more water instead until the chorizo has been thoroughly cooked.

• Take out the cooked chorizo and set aside. Add the squid and gently toss in the pan until it's lightly cooked. Add a little water if necessary. Do not overcook the squid as we don't want it to be rubbery. Set aside.

• Next, we will make the atsuete oil. To do this, add oil in the pan and add the atsuete. Instantaneously, the red orange pigment from the atsuete will be transferred into the oil.

• Take out the atsuete from the pan leaving the atsuete oil there. It's time to sauté the minced garlic, onion and bell pepper in the atsuete oil until slightly cooked.

• Add back the pre-cooked chorizo, sauté for 1-2 minutes.

• Grab your diced or fresh tomatoes and mixed thoroughly with the rest of ingredients already in the pan. I added bay leaves too to add savory aroma. Let this cook over low to medium heat until slightly dried.

• Pour in both the regular rice and glutinous rice. Both should be washed prior to this step. Mix everything well.

• Add chicken stock and rice wine into the pan. The rice should be fully submerged into the liquid. At this point, the flame should be set at its lowest in order for the rice to fully cook without burning. It took 20-30 minutes for mine to fully cook.

• I'd say it takes so much patience to cook a paella; unless you want to take the short cut but I firmly held unto my goal for this day which was a perfect socarrat or the burnt part of the paella at the bottom part. You might see it bright red, waving hello and you'd want to jump and eat right away but I tell you, stay calm and wait a bit more.

• Arrange the raw shrimp strategically on top of the rice. Wait for one side to turn orangy before flipping the other side.

• After trying out the rice and confirming that it's fully cooked, I then added the pre-cooked mussels. You might want to use your artistry here to elevate the overlook look of your dish. I took my time arranging all toppings and the result was lovely. At this point, I was sure I've achieved my goal as the sides of the pan we're crystalizing or caramelizing and with a darker color, I'm confident a perfectly cooked socarrat awaits me. I turned off the flame and added the other toppings/garnish.

• Time to add the the sliced lemon. Still being mindful of where to place each slice.

• Add back the squid into the pan.

• And that's it! Time to test my creation for the weekend. I've read somewhere that a paella is not a paella without the socarrat and when I checked if my paella had it, joy overflowed when I scooped at the bottom part of the pan the perfect socarrat. It was darker than I expected but its taste was heavenly. It houses all the flavors of the paella I just made; it was sweet, salty, with a hint of tartness from the rice vinegar and tomatoes. Overall, it was another successful new dish I made at home.

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