Spanish Cuisine
Paella de Marisco
The seafood paella of the Valencian coast. Bomba rice simmered in a deep prawn-shell stock with squid, mussels, and saffron, finished with socarrat.
- Prep
- 35 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
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History & Origin
If paella valenciana belongs to the rice paddies and orchards inland of Valencia, paella de marisco belongs to its beaches. As the dish travelled the few kilometres from the Albufera lagoon to the Mediterranean shore, fishermen swapped rabbit and beans for whatever the morning's nets brought in, and cooked it in the same wide pan over driftwood fires, a cousin of the older arroz a banda, the "rice apart" that fishing crews made from the catch too small to sell.
In the twentieth century, beachfront chiringuitos made the seafood version famous with tourists, and it became the paella most of the world pictures. Valencians are careful with the distinction: the original is the one with rabbit, and mixing meat and seafood (the infamous paella mixta) is left to tourist menus. But made honestly, with a proper stock and no stirring, the marisco is a classic on its own terms.
Ingredients & Instructions
- Fry the prawn shells and heads in 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan for 3–4 minutes, crushing the heads with a spoon. Add the fish stock, simmer for 15 minutes, then strain and keep hot. Steep the saffron in a ladleful of it.
- Warm the olive oil in a 40–46 cm paella pan over medium-high heat. Season the squid and fry hard for 2–3 minutes until it takes colour at the edges. Push to the sides.
- Add the garlic to the centre, and a moment later the grated tomato and paprika. Cook down for 5 minutes until dark and thick.
- Pour in the hot stock and the saffron with its liquid. Bring to a rolling simmer and taste; the broth should be a touch too salty on its own.
- Scatter the rice evenly across the pan. From this point on, do not stir.
- Cook on high for 10 minutes, then lower the heat. Nestle in the mussels hinge-down and lay the peeled prawns and whole prawns over the rice. Cook 8–10 minutes more until the liquid is gone, the mussels have opened, and the rice is tender.
- For the socarrat, raise the heat to high for a final 60–90 seconds until you hear a dry crackle. Kill the heat, cover loosely with a towel, and rest for 5 minutes. Serve from the pan with lemon.
Notes
The stock is the dish: simmering the prawn shells into it is not optional. And resist the urge to pile on seafood; too much steams the rice and waters the flavour. Rice is the star; the seafood is its crown.