Paella Mixta Valenciana

Paella mixta belongs to the Valencian rice table, the coastal mar i muntanya side of it, where chicken and rabbit meet prawns and mussels in one shallow paellera. It is not the old Paella Valenciana from the fields around l'Albufera, and it should not pretend to be. This one looks inland and out to sea at once: browned meat, shellfish, saffron, tomato cooked down hard, and rice left dry and separate. No chorizo. That's another dish wearing the wrong hat.

The method that decides it is this: build the sofrito, the slow tomato base, until the grated tomato has lost its water and the oil comes back clear at the edges. Then move the rice through that oil until the grains look glassy. Hot stock goes in all at once, and from there you keep your spoon out. Stirring works the starch loose; paella wants separate rice and a dark socarrat, the toasted bottom, not a creamy pot of arroz.

If you're far from Valencia, buy bomba or Calasparra rice. If you must use arborio, use 100ml less liquid and expect a softer grain; it will feed you well, but it won't stand as firm. Use shell-on prawns and live mussels that close when tapped. If rabbit is hard to find, use more chicken, but don't replace the seafood with sausage. No hace falta haber pisado España, you don't need to have set foot in Spain. You do have to shop honestly.

Set the pan wide, keep the rice shallow, and rotate it if your burner heats unevenly. The Margin in my notebook says only this beside paella: "when the stock enters, hands off." Siempre sale, si lo sigues, it turns out if you follow it.