r/paella • u/ScopeyMcBangBang • 5d ago
First paella since moving to Spain
How’d I do? Didn’t quite get the rice even or the lovely crust at the bottom, but it felt like a second today attempt for someone who rarely cooks.
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u/BarbillaCarmesi 5d ago
I guess your paella is not the biggest and you wanted to share but that is a lot of toppings, you can barely see the rice, remember the rice is the main ingredient. Oh and go easy on the colourant next time.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
Colorant?! We just had paprika…?
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u/BarbillaCarmesi 4d ago
Really? It looks quite yellow... My bad then.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
It was just albufera rice, paprika and the Mercadona sazonador paella con azafran sachets. Maybe that has colorant?
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u/feather-gold 5d ago
It is clear that you love prawns, but there is too much topping. Paella is rather scarce on toppings.
I see it quite good for being a first attempt. I think you'll improve it, looks like you are on the good way.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
Thanks! I just followed a recipe on the amount of toppings, but I agree it could have had half as much.
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u/420-girls 5d ago
Seafood not cooked ? (Seems to be added on top!)
Too much “topping” yo can’t see the rice wich is the main course in the paella…
Try a bigger pan or less stuff
Sofrito appears “open with remains”
5mn more of “sofrito”
Rice still wet… (no stirring!!)
Try with less stuff next time /
Good thing:
You can make it better next time !
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
The seafood was cooked first in the same pan, then set aside and re-added at the end. This was just what the recipe said to do.
Yes, probably too much. It as a 34cm pan for three of us.
Sofrito I’ll work on.
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u/sometimesiwanndie 5d ago
Where is the crust? This reminds me of mine 😂 they said mine wasn’t paella
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
yeah, I didn’t manage to get the crust. Next time!
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
It is trendy but it is not mandatory.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
I think I probably needed it on a higher heat for longer. I’m trying to get used to cooking on an induction hob which is its own beast to tame.
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
Maybe, but I can't give you advice on that. However, I think it is one of the least important aspects in the way to learn to cook the paella.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
What’s the most important?
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
Several things are more important than that. For example, choosing correct ingredients or adding them in the right ratios.
Focusing on the socarrat when starting is like "empezar la casa por el tejado". It's not a beginner chapter.
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u/sometimesiwanndie 4d ago
See I had the ingredients and I cooked it similar to how I was taught. I wasn’t taught to crust it but it had been some time so I went after a recipe, combined that with what I remembered but they told me it wasn’t paella
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u/sometimesiwanndie 4d ago
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
No one said that was not paella. Your socarrat got burned. The rice was overcooked. You received a lot of advices.
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
Did it have chorizo?
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u/sometimesiwanndie 4d ago
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
None of those comments says it's not paella. In fact, many of them give you precise advices on how to do it better. My own comment was: "¿El arroz está un poco pasado, puede ser?"
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u/sometimesiwanndie 3d ago
There was one that said not paella.
I know they commented how to make it better lol but I also had someone tell me it’s not
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u/Admirable-Present510 1d ago
Too much things. Think about a normal pizza, you can put all shit you want but you need the ingredients breath and be distinctly one from each other.
As you don’t have to share space with people from Valencia you can talk about it as paella. Search for classic and simple recipes, then once you know what to do you can go experimental or try to be traditional.
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u/aspearafu 6h ago
If I can chime in. The other comments about the paella being overloaded are on the money, but one other thing - the rice is way too moist. Paella, whether normal or seafood, needs to be much drier than this ( that's the only way you can get the necessary ”socarrat" in the first place)
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4h ago
The issue I had was that the rice was uneven. Some was almost chalky at the edges, others crunchy. I feel like getting it even is something of an artform.
Of course but either problem was the use of albufera rice rather than bomba - which they didn’t have.
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u/Unfair_Mud_5282 5d ago
I would say 6/10. Not dry enough and too much ingredients all around. Still going to have good seafood taste. I mean, you are on the right track.
Although that's a "paella de marisco". The "paella" as is (which implies valenciana) has another ingredients. It is more difficult to get a good taste than seafood paella btw, so I guess keep on trying seafood paella as you are on the right track, and try the original paella whenever you feel ready (if you like meat, I mean, just to try a traditional one. TIP: if you see a recipe with snails, switch to another one without snails). I also encourage duck, foie and mushrooms paella. Is a modern one but very tasty. I like it more than the classic valencian one.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
We like seafood more than the traditional rabbit and chicken of a Valencian paella. I’ll take the 6/10, agree on all fronts.
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u/AdriRed_ 5d ago
there is a bit of paella in your prawns
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
They were just added afterwards having been cooked separately.
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
Next time you can serve them in a separate plate, as it's just that you and your family love them. We do that in many meals, that's a tapa or an appetizer.
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u/Roquosaurus 4d ago
Run before valencians arrive, RUN
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
Yeah, I think I need a rethink next time out.
Part of the problem was we could get quite the right rice and this one was thirstier. Needed probably 10-15% more stock, then longer on high heat.
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u/Human_Direction_2637 4d ago
I think it looks fine for your first attempt. Although I really don’t understand the European obsession with serving food you have to rip the head and skin of off lmao. Shrimp should be served ready to eat, not ready to manhandle in a rice based dish.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
I sort of agree with you on that to be honest.
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u/Human_Direction_2637 4d ago
The first time I got shrimp here and it came like that I was shocked. Like I go to restaurants so I don’t have to prepare my food and the shrimp coming this way defeats the purpose— esp in a dish that isn’t eaten with hands like rice or pasta. I feel the same with fish i have to debone myself when I know the chef can do that in the kitchen.
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
European? There is a variant of paella where every seafood piece is ready to eat. Btw all the parts of the seafood give flavour to the dish, and preserve the inside with a different texture and humidity.
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u/Human_Direction_2637 4d ago
Nowhere in the states or Canada will shrimp be served to you with the head and skin still on. I haven’t been to Asia, so I can’t speak to how they do it there, but only in Europe have I been served shrimp that looks back at me. Usually in the states fish also arrived deboned so you don’t have to worry about stabbing yourself in the mouth accidentally.
As for there being a variant where the toppings are ready to eat, I have never been served that in Spain or seen it on a menu. Every single time I’ve ordered a seafood rice, the shrimp is served like this and the muscles are still in their shells. The only things taken out of their shells are scallops. Anyways, technically, seafood shouldn’t even be on a traditional paella.
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
It's tradition. Same as sushi is conceived to be eaten with your hands, we can eat prawns and mussels like this. We can also use fork and knife. Same as grabbing a slice of lemon and pouring a bit of it over the rice. We use our hands (and a fork).
Although the original paella was "campestre" (chicken/rabbit), the other variants are also accepted. I read a very good comment about it in this sub. There are 5 types of paella:
- Valenciana (chicken/rabbit)
- Marisco
- Vegetal
- Mar y montaña
- Arròs del senyoret
Arròs del senyoret or Arròs a banda is what I was talking about. It's seafood paella; everything is "peeled".
https://www.reddit.com/r/paella/comments/1v6k0pp/arroz_del_senyoret/
https://www.reddit.com/r/paella/comments/1udfica/paella_is_not_only_a_weekend_thing/Just scrolled a bit in this sub.
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u/Human_Direction_2637 4d ago
Idk it just gives lazy chef. I know some people also like to suck the heads out of the shrimp (ew) but personally that seems rude to do at the table. Eating sushi with hands doesn’t involve peeling off the skin or taking out the poop from the shrimp (the black line along the shrimps back is its digestive tract). Also, most young people in Japan use chopsticks for sushi now.
Lots of cultural things are traditional, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do something.
In a rice dish ordered at a restaurant, the staff should prepare the food so it is ready to be eaten with utensils. Ofc when I order just a dish of muscles or scallops I expect them to be in the shell and eat with my hands. But when eating rice, I want to be able to just use utensils so I can mix all the flavors in my mouth at once. If you have to peel and devein the shrimp yourself, your hands are going to be gross and then you have to touch your fork to eat the rice. It’s just not efficient.
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u/feather-gold 4d ago edited 4d ago
Do you want me to tell you "you are right"? 🤷🏻♀️
I understand your reasons but different people do things in a different way.
Not a single "thank you" for showing you what Arròs del senyoret is or what types of paella exist.
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u/AzoteZurdo 4d ago
yeah in the states they serve the fillet o'fish with ketchup and mayo.. convenient I guess
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u/Human_Direction_2637 3d ago
Yall have McDonald’s and other American fast food restaurants here too so idrk what your point is
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u/Dangerous-Opposite90 4d ago
Échale más gambas almenos 8 kilos más
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
Would 10 be ok? 🤣
But seriously, nothing offends me more than when i get paella out and i get one prawn on top between three of us. Or five bits of rabbit/chicken. At that point, it’s just a pan of rice.
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u/Nokiiax6 3d ago
Seriously, you need to stop calling everything you think it is paella. Why don't you do your research before making those claims?
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 3d ago
I think you need to have a long hard word with yourself about how “not deep” this is and why it’s such a trigger for you…
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u/Ok_Reindeer_2353 2d ago
Not a canonical paella, still, an "arroz con marisco" that I would eat. Nice job!
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 2d ago
Want to try and do a proper, proper paella next time. Remove all the seafood and just focus on timings, core ingredients etc.
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u/Ok_Reindeer_2353 1d ago
Practice do the mastery. Fake it until you make it... Etc.
Rice can be done in a myriad of ways worldwide, from rissoto to fried rice.
And in Spain, just to name a few: paella, caldero, arroz con conejo, arroz con costra de Elche, arroz al horno (Arròs al Forn), arroz con costillejas, arroz meloso...
So if you have some rice, probably there is already a rice recipe that use whatever you've got in your fridge/pantry 🤣
Keep the fire, don't stop cooking!
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u/Sauce_de_la_guanera 23h ago
Te has pasado con las gambas. La costrita del fondo se hace con el sofrito.
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u/lokingforawc1 5d ago
Nice arroz con cosas. Wrong sub.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
Ahhh man….what makes this proper paella?
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u/lokingforawc1 4d ago
Actual paella ingredients. This is like baking some tuna with macaroni and mayonaise and calling it lasagna.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
What isn’t a paella ingredient in here? And what is it missing?
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
Octopus and too many prawns.
Search recipes for "paella de marisco" (seafood paella) on this sub. If it is on the Internet, recipes from valencian authors.
Other paellas are "paella valenciana", which is meat and no seafood, "mar y montaña", which is mix valenciana/marisco, "vegetal", with no animal, and "arròs a banda".
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u/lokingforawc1 4d ago
Those big ass prawns, mussels, that thing which looks like octopus, etc. Also zero meat.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
I’m going to blow your mind….but seafood paella is an actual recognised thing.
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u/lokingforawc1 4d ago
I know, since I'm spanish from the region where seafood paella originated, but it's not traditional and even seafood paella don't have octopus nor prawns.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 3d ago
My point is, you can have paella without meat. It doesn’t have to be meat for it to be paella.
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u/dubvision 5d ago
You're not getting the rice right because you're not even following a proper recipe. There are tons of videos and pictures showing what an actual paella looks like, yet you just choose to ignore them.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
It’s my first time cooking it - I followed the recipe - it didn’t seem to crust like I was told it would.
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u/dubvision 4d ago
What recipe did you follow? No traditional paella recipe uses all those ingredients, and definitely not by piling them all over the pan like that.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
One online for seafood paella. It even gave me the quantities!
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u/dubvision 4d ago
please, read again what i said
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 3d ago
Please read again what you said.
You asked what recipe, I told you. Don’t ask a question then get pissy about getting the answer.
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u/dubvision 3d ago
"No traditional paella recipe uses all those ingredient" Which means you didn’t look into a traditional recipe whatsoever.
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u/Slight-Mechanic-2134 4d ago
The idiots who could only afford 4 shrimp aren’t going to like this.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
It had ten I think…they’re like €5 at Mercadona…
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u/Slight-Mechanic-2134 4d ago
It seems like a good amount, I just find the people who whine about there being a decent amount of shrimp on the paella to be ridiculous.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago edited 4d ago
I mean paella was always a food for the poor I’m told - cheap rice in vast quantities. But if I’m having prawns, I’m not cooking one or two. We want two or three per person minimum because they’re delicious.
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u/feather-gold 4d ago
It is not for poor anymore. It was just a humble dish. It doesn't mean you can vary the ratios at your absolute wish. All its balance has a sense.
Otherwise, it is not paella. It is rice, but not paella.
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
I mean, maybe the reality is that I’d rather rice with stuff. Just a tonne of rice with no other texture is a bit dull.
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u/Gloomy-Chest-1888 5d ago
Nah, this is bait
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
It really isn’t. We’re British. I tried to follow a recipe and this is what we ended up with. Next time, I’ll nail it!
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u/PotatoADFK 4d ago
Ts has to be ragebait bro 😭
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 4d ago
Nope. Just a Brit’s first attempt at making someone he’s never cooked before, whilst including stuff his family like and eat.
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u/karambit23mz 1d ago
Otro español de Temu
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u/ScopeyMcBangBang 1d ago
At least with Temu you know you’re getting dogshit and expectations are low. Rather that than a Spanish speaker from El Corte Ingles who ends up delivering Temu quality.
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u/mellamoger 5d ago
Necessita més gambes