Easy Seafood Paella

How to make this easy Seafood Paella.

This is an ultra easy Spanish Seafood Paella that you can make at home! This gets you a satisfying, comforting dish in just 30 minutes. I was inspired to make this because I’ve been seeing paellas being sold at Ramadan bazaars… at insanely high prices! I experimented this once, before finalising this recipe. The first time I tried this, it was an effortless attempt as well! Trust me when I say this is easy to accomplish.

Key Spice for Seafood Paella: Saffron

Saffron is the most essential ingredient for paella. Saffron is expensive though, not gonna lie. Not replaceable, and without saffron, it just does not taste like paella. IF you don’t care much for that exotic saffron flavour however, then feel free to omit. My first attempt at Paella, I did not include the saffron. This would be a good, flavourful rice platter even without saffron.

I also added paprika, but it’s not essential.

What Seafood to Use for Easy Seafood Paella?

Paella is recognisable for having prawns and shells of mussels resting on top of the rice! The typical seafood used for paella would be of course prawns and mussels, and also squid. I would think other seafood like clams and sliced fish would do great in this too. I only used prawns and mussels here for the sake of simplicity.

Prawns: I recommend not deshelling the prawns to get maximum prawn-y flavour imparted to the rice! Plus it just looks so much better. I would still devein it; to devein with the shell still on, simply cut the back of the prawn with scissors.

Mussels: The mussels I used are frozen and cooked already so I added it after the prawns. If you are using fresh mussels, add it together with the prawns. Be sure to clean your mussels properly. There’s nothing more unpleasant than biting into sand!

Squid: If using squid, either pre-cook it or add it right at the end otherwise you might end up overcooking it.

I used purely seafood for this, but you can add other proteins like chicken. I know that chorizo is a popular flavour agent to use in Paella too.

What Rice To Use?

Paella uses a specific type of rice, known as Bomba rice or Spanish rice. To get the best results and as close as Paella, you have to use this rice. Before using bomba rice, rinse until water runs clear.

That said, I used long grain white rice in my initial experiments… and it tasted good! It will have a different mouth-feel to the paella rice, but the flavours were all there.

The ratio of rice to water is 1:2, but I would keep some stock on the side. You can actually be flexible and approximate with this, because paella is suppose to be a fuss-free meal to prepare!

Additionally, there will be extra liquid already, from the tomatoes and the seafood – and this will vary! Simply add the extra stock gradually, if you find the rice has not cooked before the liquid. If it is too liquidy, leave it on the stove until the liquid cooks off.

Why is my Paella mushy?

Paella rice when cooked properly, should not be mushy and al dente. That is, the rice grains are cooked, but have a firm middle. When you let it cook even more, the bottom of the paella will develop a crispy bottom.

If your paella is mushy, then you have simply added too much liquid. I’ll be honest though… I don’t mind a slightly wet paella at all! In fact, I prefer a creamy paella, especially since this is served with no sauce. It feels more satisfying to me with some moisture. Not the “authentic” way – and I will definitely ruffle some Spanish feathers if I insist on a creamy paella – but I prefer it this way. If you want to try your hand at creamy paella, do a rice to liquid ratio of 1:3.

What Kind of Stock to Use?

I made easy homemade prawn stock, which yielded a deliciously umami, sweet rice, but you can cheat and use ready-made chicken stock. In fact, it was what I first used when I was experimenting with this and I loved the results! I actually prefer it because I’m slightly allergic to prawns. I love prawns, prawns don’t love me.

If you want to be even more authentic, use high quality, seafood fish broth.

The Vegetables in Paella

Capsicums and tomatoes are must-adds for paella. The capsicum especially adds a distinctive sweetness to the paella! The best tomatoes to use would be juicy ones. However, I personally don’t think it matters what tomatoes you use for this; in this recipe I used cherry tomatoes for its sweetness. You can also use canned tomatoes for this. With canned tomatoes, you will get a more red paella with the juices.

I also added peas at the end, since you can usually find peas in paella. It adds nice pops of green, but I’m personally not the biggest fan of peas. I would omit, if not for ~blogging~ purposes.

Another ingredient that I love to add, but perhaps not suited for most… bird’s eye chillies! I would toss in just one fine-ly chopped chilli with the capsicums and tomatoes. If you’re a lover of spice, you have to try this out!

What to Cook Paella In?

Just use a large pan! I like to use a large, heavy-bottomed pan that can retain heat well so that my rice can cook through evenly. The traditional paella pans are thin and light though, so really, you can make paella in any pan! If using a thin pan, you might even get a nice, crispy layer at the bottom.

The pan I used is a 24-inch pan, if you want to reference my measurements. As mentioned, paella is a very fuss-free, effortless dish.

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Easy Seafood Paella

Recipe by Sha

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Recipes

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

• 1 Onion, diced

• 2 cloves Garlic

• 1 Capsicum, diced

• 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes

• Salt and Pepper, to taste

• 1 cup Paella Rice (bomba rice, spanish rice), rinsed

• 2 cups Prawn Stock, with extra*

• 1 loose tsp of Saffron threads

• 1/2 tsp Paprika

• 9-10 Prawns

• 9-10 Mussels

• 1 cup Peas

• Garnish:

• Lemon wedges

• Parsley, chopped

Directions

• In a large pan, add olive oil. Once hot, add onions, garlic and capsicums. Saute until fragrant.
• Add chopped tomatoes, paprika and season with salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, or until tomatoes become mushy.
• Add rice and saffron threads, and stir until grains are coated. Level out rice evenly in the pan.
• Gently pour in stock.
• Allow the stock to come to a boil, before lowering the heat so it’s a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. No stirring involved after this.
• At the 15-minute mark, some rice should be cooked and peeking over the stock. Randomly place uncooked prawns and mussels all over the pan. Do the same with the peas.
• Allow to continue cooking for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until the seafood is cooked. If liquid is cooking off faster than rice is cooking, simply add more stock.
• Turn off the heat, and cover with a lid. Allow to rest for another 5 minutes so rice can fully absorb liquid.
• Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon wedges. Serve!

Notes

• *Prawn stock is seasoned. Alternatively, use chicken stock. If unsalted, make sure to add salt.

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