Halal Homecooked Seafood Paella is a dish that is made with seafood and rice. It is very popular in the Philippines and has been recognized as a national dish.

Paella is a Spanish dish that consists of rice, seafood, and vegetables. It is traditionally cooked in a wide pan over an open fire or on a stovetop.

The dish originated in Valencia and its name may derive from the Arabic word "pilaf" which means "fried." The best paella is made with fresh ingredients, such as shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, calamari, and fresh fish. It also contains green peas and diced tomatoes. The rice used for paella can be either long-grain or short-grain.

Ingredients for halal paella: 

Rice

We use Arborio Italian-Style Rice, as shown in the image, which is available in all Publix supermarkets and Amazon.

It is not necessary to use Spanish rice. Short-grain sushi rice and basmati rice also cook well,

Perfect for those who are not used to or have trouble digesting “hardcore” Spanish rice!

Seafood

Mussels, prawns, clams, squid, oysters, etc. can be added according to personal preference. You can also add some halal sausage pieces or halal chicken.

We used Frozen mixed seafood purchased at Costco (Harvest of the Sea Seafood Medley) and fresh halal chicken.

Other

Vegetables: garlic, onion, green pepper, bell pepper, green onion, etc.

Ingredients :

Saffron, Lemon, halal Chicken Broth

Pot: A frying pan. We used a Tramontina cast iron pan.

Instructions:

1. Chop the garlic, cut the onion and green pepper into small pieces, take a pot of stock and keep it boiled for later use

2. Put oil in a frying pan and heat it on high heat

3. Sauté the onion on medium heat until transparent, add minced garlic and bell pepper, and fry until the bell pepper is slightly soft

4. Put in the chicken, we use chicken thighs (because I love to eat, I don't like chicken breast) and cook for a while

5. Add the rice and saffron, stir fry for 2 minutes, keep stirring until the rice is golden brown, add enough stock (to completely submerge the rice), and add an appropriate amount of salt and black pepper, add seafood.

6. Turn to low heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, avoiding turning

7. When the rice basically absorbs the broth, continue to cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes

After turning off the heat, squeeze in lemon juice. You can also sprinkle with chopped parsley or chopped green onion according to personal preference.

8. Perfect! Bring the whole pot to the table 😋

It is stewed with rice and various seafood, which is very close to the cooking method of Chinese food.

It is delicious and rich, the finished product is not only delicious but also looks super good!

Lesser-known is that paella is called "Paella", which means "big pot rice". A hundred years ago, Valencia created the world-famous paella. It is said that the habit of making Paella can be traced back to more than a hundred years ago. At that time, seafood could not be preserved and was not a home-cooked dish. Therefore, the earliest paella was made of rice, chicken ( Or rabbit meat) and beans as raw materials, a kind of vegetable and meat stewed rice cooked in a shallow big round double-ear pot with a depth of no more than 5 cm, which is very popular among local people.Later, Valencians who like to enjoy delicious food have continuously derived risotto containing ingredients based on chicken and rabbit risotto, such as vegetable risotto, fish risotto, seafood rice, etc., with rich varieties. Nowadays, because the Paella made of seafood is the most popular, all kinds of Paella are collectively referred to as "paella".