Like most iconic national dishes, Spain’s paella comes in as many versions as there are cooks – and make no mistake, each cook will defend their version as the only one worthy of the name. But take a look at a host of very different recipes and you’ll realise that there are just a few basics necessary for making a good paella: short-grain rice, saffron, a wide pan with a thin base, and the ability to refrain from stirring. Beyond those four essentials, paella is very much a matter of personal interpretation.

Tips
As always, the freshest and most flavourful ingredients are best, so get most of (or all) of your seafood fresh. Fresh tomatoes are also good, but if they’re not perfectly ripe, rather use good quality tinned tomatoes. Use a pan big enough to fit all the ingredients without becoming too full; if the pan is too full, the bottom burns while the top remains undercooked. Finally, the mark of really authentic paella is the caramelised crust that forms on the bottom of the pan, called the soccarrat – in Spain it’s considered the best part.

Classic paella with prawns, calamari, mussels and kingklip
Serves 4
4 raw (or frozen and defrosted) unshelled tiger prawns 
60ml olive oil
150g kingklip, cut into chunks
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
200g chopped tomatoes
50ml dry white wine
Pinch of saffron soaked in a little boiling water
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
200g short-grain rice
150g raw (or frozen and defrosted) calamari rings
150g peas
500ml warmed fish stock, if you can manage, otherwise chicken stock will do
150g mussels
Lemon wedges and flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Heat the oil in the paella pan over medium heat and add the chunks of kingklip. Sauté gently for a few minutes until the chunks are lightly browned, then remove from the pan and set aside.

Fry the onion in the pan for a few minutes, and then add the garlic and sauté for a further minute. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, wine and saffron with its soaking liquid, and add the smoked paprika. Give it all a good stir before turning up the heat and letting it simmer for ten minutes.

Now add the rice, calamari rings and peas and pour in 400ml of the stock. Leave it all to simmer over a high heat, and resist the temptation to stir.

After ten minutes, place the kingklip chunks, prawns and mussels on top of the rice and push them into the rice slightly, but don’t stir. Once all the seafood has been added, cook for another eight minutes. Paella is supposed to be quite a dry dish, but if you think it looks too dry before the cooking time is up, you can add a little more stock.

When the rice is cooked, remove the paella from the heat and cover the pan with foil. Let it rest for ten minutes before removing the foil, and garnish with parsley and lemon wedges.

By Emma-Kate Coultas (née Liebenberg) 
Image by PincasPhoto

Craving seafood but not up to cooking it yourself? Check out our seafood platter guide. 

Also learn how to roast the perfect chicken, cook your own stock, make ricotta, make nougat and braai the perfect steak.