Paella Valenciana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •42-45cm paellera for 400g rice
• •Wide outdoor gas burner, grill, or two stovetop burners
• •Box grater for tomato
• •Thin spatula or wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Set the pan

   Set a 42-45cm paellera level over an outdoor burner, grill, or two stovetop burners. Bring the water to a simmer, crumble the saffron into it, and keep it hot. Season the chicken and rabbit with 8g of the salt.

   A level pan matters. If the liquid pools to one side, the rice on the high side dries before the rest is cooked.
2. 2

   Brown the meat

   Warm the olive oil in the paellera over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and rabbit in a single layer and brown them well, turning often, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the bones and edges go deep golden; this paella uses water, not stock, so the browned meat is where the broth begins.

3. 3

   Build the base

   Add the flat beans and the fresh or frozen garrofó, if using, and cook for 5 minutes. Push everything toward the edges, add the grated tomato to the centre, and cook it down until thick and dark, 4 to 6 minutes, with the oil showing again. Lower the heat and stir in the pimentón for 10 seconds only; scorch it and it turns bitter.

4. 4

   Toast the rice

   Scatter in the rice and move it through the tomato oil for 1 minute, until the grains look glossy and glassy at the edges. This is the last proper stirring. The oil coats the rice so it keeps its shape; after the water goes in, stirring is finished.

5. 5

   Add the water

   Pour in the hot saffron water all at once. Add the remaining 4g salt, the optional snails, the optional rosemary, and the cooked large lima beans if you are using those instead of fresh or frozen garrofó. Spread the rice, meat, and beans evenly in the first minute, then put the spoon down. Boil briskly for 8 minutes.

   You may nudge a stray mound flat while the water first goes in. After that, no stirring. That is how the grains stay separate and the socarrat gets a chance.
6. 6

   Lower and finish

   Remove the rosemary after 5 minutes if you used it. Lower the heat to a steady simmer and cook 8 to 10 minutes more, rotating the pan if your heat is uneven, until the liquid has dropped below the rice and the edges look dry. If bomba is still chalky and the pan is dry, spoon 50ml hot water around the edge. Do not stir it in.

7. 7

   Catch the socarrat

   When the rice is tender with a firm centre and the pan is nearly dry, raise the heat for 60 to 90 seconds. Listen for a soft crackle and smell toasted rice, not burning. Take the pan off the heat, cover loosely with a clean towel or foil, and rest 5 minutes. Serve from the paellera, scraping the bottom so everyone gets some socarrat.

Chef Tips

• •Use bomba or Calasparra if you're cooking far from Valencia. If you have senia or bahia rice, use 1.1 litres hot water for 400g and watch it closely; those grains drink less and soften faster. Arborio only at a pinch: use 1.05 litres and expect a creamier grain.
• •Garrofó is a large Valencian lima bean with a creamy middle. Frozen is good. Canned large lima beans or butter beans work if drained and added with the water, not fried hard at the start, or they break.
• •Use real saffron if you can. If saffron is out of reach, leave the rice paler; a yellow packet gives colour, not flavour.
• •A wide, shallow pan is not decoration. In a deep skillet the rice piles up, cooks like a pot of arroz, and the bottom cannot make a proper socarrat.
• •No chorizo in Paella Valenciana. Seafood belongs to other coastal rice dishes, and they deserve their own name. This one is chicken, rabbit, beans, and saffron rice.
• •If tomatoes are poor, use 150g good canned crushed tomato and cook it until the oil shows again. Raw watery tomato thins the base and the whole pan tastes weaker.

Advance Preparation

• •Cut the chicken and rabbit into small paella pieces and salt them up to 12 hours ahead; keep covered in the refrigerator.
• •Trim the beans, thaw the garrofó, grate the tomato, and measure the rice and water before you light the burner. Once the rice starts, the pan moves quickly.
• •If using dried garrofó or dried large lima beans, soak them overnight and cook separately until tender before adding them to the paella.
• •Do not cook the paella ahead. Have the table ready, cook the rice, rest it for 5 minutes, then eat. Leftovers keep, but the socarrat softens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 585g)