Of Rice And Men

Like many longtime expats, I find myself thinking of the issue of distance and aging parents lately. My dad's birthday is two weeks away and I can't believe that he's going to be 69 years old, just a year away from being 70. I've been living outside the States for nine years now and I haven't been around to celebrate his and all of the members of my immediate family's last nine birthdays and milestones. As a result of being far away from each other for so long, they still see me as my former self from nine years ago and vice versa.

Seafood paella (paella marisco)

My family still can't imagine me in the kitchen.  As  I've said, I was only 24, just 2 months shy of my 25th birthday when I left.   Although I wasn't a completely irresponsible person, but, like a lot of young women in their early 20's, if I wasn't at work or working on my photography or painting, I was either out clubbing until four in the morning or at some rock concert or hanging out at some trendy café on Melrose Avenue.  Sometimes I did all three in a single day on my days off. 

My siblings and I were quite spoiled in that we had a mother who cooked real, natural food everyday.  When I moved out, I couldn't bring myself to live on canned and frozen foods or instant ramen noodles  the way most people in their early 20's did.  Yet, I couldn't be bothered to do the cooking myself.  To get around this, I'd go to my parents' house on Sundays and take home a week's worth of food that my mom cooked.  My parents used to ask me why I bothered moving out. 

Anyway, my family still associates me with the way I was in my early 20's. They would have a hard time believing that I have a food blog up, let alone that I can cook paella. They, nor any of my friends, don't know that I'm maintaining a food blog.

If there's one thing that I'd love to cook for my family, it would be my Dad's favorite Spanish dish, seafood paella. My mom makes this dish for my dad every year on his birthday.  She definitely will do so again in two weeks. Since my dad will be 69 years old in two weeks, I figured I'd make it for the most important man in my life anyway, even though he and my family are too far away to taste it.

So, I cooked this for you Dad, even though it's only as good as a symbolic gesture for now.  It's the sincerest gesture your reserved and undemonstrative daughter can ever show her Daddy, nonetheless. 

Traditionally, paella was cooked outdoors over an open fire by men, as it  was considered the women's Sunday rest from the kitchen.  Since my dad burns the water he boils, we're only too happy to deviate from this tradition in my family.

Freshwater prawns

While I was out shopping for my paella ingredients at the market, I found these beautiful freshwater prawns.  I have seen these on my pig out...er..I mean 'culinary' trips to Bangkok and Malaysia.  I was only too happy to find it here in the Philippines.  So, instead of using regular prawns / shrimps, I decided to use freshwater prawns / shrimps.

As you can see, unlike regular prawns / shrimps, these creatures tend to have bigger heads that are about the same length as their bodies.  Their tails and claws have a beautiful shade of blue that gradually turns into orange.  Their tails are similar to that of a crayfish.

Their meat is quite dense and juicy compared to regular prawns/shrimps. However, they tend to dry out quickly when overcooked and the meat starts to separate.

Look at those beautiful shade of blue claws and tails. 

I asked a fellow shopper why this isn't as common here.  The nice elderly lady said that these freshwater shrimps/prawns were once quite plentiful in most waterways of the Philippines, including Manila.  She said that most people would just harvest these from the rivers and take them home to cook.  According to the nice lady, most of the younger generations have neither seen nor  tried  these freshwater prawns, or ulang, as it's called in Tagalog (Filipino), since they have pretty much disappeared due to pollution.   Hence, they are quite rare today in the Phlippines.  These freshwater prawns were raised in ponds outside Manila.

Seafood Paella (Paella Marisco)

Recipe
(Note:  I apologize for failing to mentioning the paellera, the paella pan.  It is best to cook it in one as it was specifically designed for the paella.  If you don't have one, or are not inclined to invest in one,  make sure to cook this in a wide and shallow pan so that the stock can penetrate all the grains.  When I first attempted to make this a few years ago, I made the mistake of cooking the paella in a relatively deep pan.  The grains in the middle were not fully cooked since the stock was unable to penetrate.)

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs  (680 g), fresh mussels, purged and cleaned 

1 lb       (450 g)  fresh clams, purged and cleaned

1/2 cup (355 ml) water

1.5 lbs (680 g)  prawns / shrimps

1/2 lb  (250 g)  squid, cleaned and sliced into rings

3 tbsp  (44 ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 large tomato, peeled and pureed

4  cups   (946 ml)   fish stock

7 oz    (200 g) chicken breast fillet, chopped

7 oz    (200 g) Spanish (not Mexican) chorizo, sliced ( There are many varieties of Spanish chorizos, make sure to use the one meant for cooking.)

1.5 lb  (680 g) bomba or Calasparra paella rice (substitute Calrose rice if unavailable)

10 saffron threads

2 tsp   (10 g)   Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón) -

7 oz.  (200 g) peas

3.5 oz (100g) bell peppers,  chop half and slice the other half into strips

lemon wedges for garnish

Directions

Cook the shellfish:
Steam mussels and clams in a pot, add water and cover.  Turn off the heat when the shells have opened. Discard unopened shells.  Reserve the liquid.

Cook the other ingredients:

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes.  Once the tomatoes' liquid has evaporated, add the chicken, chopped bell peppers, chorizo, and squid.

Add the rice, stir for 1 minute.

Stir in the stock, mussel and clam liquid, paprika and saffron.  The rice shouldn't be visible.

Add the shrimps / prawns when the stock boils.  The rice grains should be visible and start to swell by this time.   Cook over medium heat, until the stock has reduced, the broth is about the same level as the rice.

Lower the heat.  Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes without stirring.

Turn up the heat to medium-high to form the socorrat, the crust that forms at the bottom. This should take about 1 minute.  You will be able to smell the rice toasting.  Remove from heat.

Add the mussels and clams by pushing them into the rice.  Add the peas and strips of bell peppers.  Cover the paella with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges.

(This post made Foodbuzz Top 9!)

What to do with leftover paella.

For North American Residents:
You can order the ingredients or other Spanish foodstuff here:
La Tienda

Where to get bomba rice and other Spanish food products in the Metro Manila area: 

Terry's Selection
The Podium, Ground flr., Ortigas Center

Warning:  This store is quite overpriced.  Bomba rice is sold at  Php 600/kg ( US $13.04/kg = $5.93/ lb).

I can't justify doling out that much for rice so I used Calrose rice  as a substitute.  It can be purcheased at

The Rice Center
Market! Market!, Fort Bonifacio

This isn't inside the mall but outside by the fruits section, near the outdoor eating area.