Recipes

Seafood Paella

May, 2010 | 7 Comments

Preparation time on the day 1 – 2hrs

This recipe serves 6 to 8

You’ll need to get your hands on

3 – 4 Kreef, halved & de-veined
20 West Coast black mussels cleaned, and de-bearded
12 to 18 queen prawns
40 small clams
½ kg firm white fish, filleted and cubed (Kabeljou’s good) and ask your fishmonger to give you the bones for stock
300 g calamari cut into rings
Marinade for prawns and fish
1 tablespoon brown sugar
juice of 1 lime
a splash of soya sauce
a good lashing of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
a hand of ginger, peeled and chopped
3 chillies, chopped, seeds and all

You’ll also need:

a pinch of saffron
a handful of parsley
a glass of decent dry white wine
olive oil
2-3 cups of Basmati rice
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 hot chillies, chopped
6 ripe tomatoes, quartered
a few sprigs of rosemary
fish stock
a handful of mangetout
a handful of broad beans
1 red and 1 yellow pepper – seeded and cut into strips
2 punnets brown mushrooms
2 punnets hand crushed oyster mushrooms
6 chorizo sausages (or any other smoked sausage)
a lemon or two

Soak the mussels in a bucket of sea water overnight or for as long as possible – this way they will spit out all the grit in their shells.

First up – clean and de-vein the prawns, keeping the heads and half the shells for the stock. Roast them on top of a braai grid for a couple minutes on each side – this will really bring out their flavour. Marinate the prawns, along with the fish, in a mixture of brown sugar, lime juice, soya sauce, olive oil, chopped garlic, ginger and chilli.

Start making the stock by tossing the prawn heads and shells and fish bones into a pot with a little more water than is required for cooking the rice – this way you will allow for liquid loss while making the stock.

Next, toss the mussels and clams into a pot, add a pinch of saffron threads, break up the parsley and add, pour over a glass of wine and give the pot a good shake. Put the lid on and steam until the mussels open, as soon as this happens, stop the cooking process. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened, as they were probably dead when you picked them and could give you seafood poisoning. Retain the juice at the bottom of the pot – it’s full of salty sea flavour and you can add some of this to the fish stock. But be sure to strain before use and add only a little at a time and then taste – it could easily get too savoury!

To tenderise the calamari – moer it with any heavy object you have to hand; this is a sure-fire way of ensuring it stays soft and succulent.

Splash olive oil into the pan and quickly fry the prawns and fish to seal. Remove and set aside. Be sure to cover them – remember flies are free and plentiful in Africa. Now fry the rice, the garlic, the onions and the chillies over a medium heat in 6 tablespoons of olive oil (or as much as it takes to coat the rice thoroughly), stirring occasionally until the rice goes nice and translucent – the process is similar to Risotto. Then add the calamari, tomatoes, rosemary, and stock. Seal the dish with tin foil, and allow it to cook until the rice is almost done. You can do this either in an oven at 180°C, or on a fire at low heat.

Remove the tinfoil (keep it in one piece because you’re going to use it again) and drop the following into the rice: half of the mangetout, broad beans, peppers, both kinds of mushrooms, and all the fish, prawns, mussels and crayfish. Seal again and put back on the heat until the rice is cooked. You’re allowed to peek every now and then and taste as well – this is one of the perks of being the officer in charge. Just before you dish up add the remainder of the vegetables – they’ll give the paella a lovely fresh crunch – and the chorizo sausage. Season to taste, give it all a good toss and serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Important: Don’t stir the rice while it’s cooking – you’ll destroy the channels that help the flavour of the stock to permeate the grains. Remember, too, to check the instructions on the packet with regard to rice vs liquid quantities. I use 1 cup rice to 1½ cups liquid, but it might differ from brand to brand.

Saffron is intrinsic to paella. It comes from southwest Asia and has been known for decades as the world’s most expensive spice by weight. This is because it is hand harvested from the flower of the saffron crocus of which only the style and the three stigmas are dried and used. It adds a very distinctive rich golden-yellow tint to this dish, but its flavour is really quite mild.

How to clean prawns: Pull off the head, then on the back of the prawn, slice open the tail and remove the dark thin line of the guts. This is called de-veining.

How to clean mussels: Using a small sharp knife, scrape the mussels clean of all barnacles and other parasites living on the shell. Pull out the beard on the side where it pokes out (the fibrous connections that attach the mussels to the rocks) and scrape this clean. Soak the mussels in a bucket of sea water for as long as you can; preferably over night this will allow the mussels to spit out the grit inside their shells.