A few people asked about using store bought stock with powdered gelatin. I haven't tried this. It might work just fine, but I have reservations. Paella cooking time is only 20 minutes or so. This might not be enough to deactivate gelatins ability to set and the final texture might come out weird. Here is my video on stock and gelatin that explains how it works: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B-zgHaVakOQ.html
I have last minute panics all the time. Schmaltz, lard, and tallow are always in my freezer. I make whatever soup base I like this year, gelatin, and schmaltz (just a tad). Cook it up, let it rest, and it will be one hell of a lot better than broth and 80% of the way to stock. I wouldn't try to rush this, though. Make the fake stock and chill it to check the texture. It *should* look close to your stock. If it doesn't, warm it up and adjust. If you can't do that then yes, make and freeze real stock. And practice cooking.
I have no idea where you came from, or why you ended up in my recommended to watch, but I am so grateful for it! You’re so pleasant and informed as a chef you’ve thought me so much I. Jusr a few days
14:48 THIS, THIS IS IT. Look, paella is a dish based on local ingredients, it's fine to make a paella with whatever you have lying around, but you must UNDERSTAND the dish. You must know about socarrat, you must not stir the rice, you must cook it on a wide enough pan. It must be a PAELLA and paella is not a dish, but rather a way of cooking. In Spain you'll find local variants and even seasonal variants. IT'S FINE TO USE SHITAKE ON A PAELLA. (just don't call it Valencian or purists will burn your house..) simply add "this is my version of paella which isn't very traditional". With this level of understanding no Valencian would do other thing than just take their hat off and appreciate a variation of their dish made with insight and respect. Simply BRAVO.
I really agree with this viewpoint. However, I do have to say...I'd hope that people would be able to guess that shiitake mushrooms might not be a typical ingredient in a *Spanish* dish lmao
The "burnt" rice on the bottom is delicious. In Colombia we call it pega or cucayo (depending of where in the country you're from). It is like a treasure and we kinda "fight" for who gets to eat the pega 😂
I live in Spain, rather close to Valencia where this dish comes from. I would say that you have taken inspiration from it and tried to elevate some of its elements which is in itself a nice tribute to this legendary dish. People tend to have very high expectations when it comes to paella and it is the subject of intense debates. I would personally say that the meat would traditionally be chicken and rabbit (and possibly some snails or duck) and for the veggies in the traditional version there would be no carrots or mushrooms. And for the sofrito no onion. But as we see, this is, like pizza and so many other legendary dishes, a basis for so many variants, improvements etc. So thanks for your take on this family recipe. One last thing: the preferred family / friends way of eating it is to eat directly from the pan, we draw some zones in the pan and each one eats from their own zone, sharing the same dish and grating the socarrat directly while eating!
I lived in Senegal and their traditional dish thieboudienne is also a stock based lots of vegs rice that's served in a communal platter with "zones" as you say. It's an eating experience as much as it is a really nice dish.
@@FutureCommentary1 oh yes, right, I see what you mean with "eating experience". With paella made at home, the experience goes even beyond, because it tends to be cooked live, when all the guests are there (generally it is made in open air like a garden or terrace, for lunch, with a special portable gas stove). Everyone gathers near the person who is cooking, eating some light snacks or tapas with some beer or wine, and we look at the process of cooking paella, commenting on the process, etc. Then when it is done we indeed eat it from the pan altogether. Really a very nice experience that everybody loves.
@@Frederic1406 SMH + Smiling: This other RU-vid (Ethan Chlebowski) just posted a Jollof rice video! Was he reading through our comments about eating rice? He's not one I follow but I'll go ahead and watch his video.
I recently returned a book to the library, “The Bottom of the Pot”. Many stories of Persian home cooking, and the rice crust is celebrated, from the bottom of the pot. Thank you for this paella method!
Paella means PAN. That's it. It doesn't mean chicken, rabbit, beans, with bomba rice cooked in stock.. she didn't even call her dish Paella Valenciana. She used a similar technique to cook ingredients that catered to her own tastes to CREATE her own version of the dish. That's what chefs do, they create. Otherwise, you'd be eating the same thing from hundreds of centuries ago.
@@dpham5585 sorry, but that’s not correct. I agree that a paella is a type of pan, but when Spaniards refer to paella, it can only be paella valenciana. The rest of rices cooked in that pan are rices cooked in a paella pan, NOT a paella as she says in the video. What she has done is as Spaniards would say, “arroz con cosas” or “rice with things”.
Don't sweat Valencians, they don't understand the history of "their" own dish. It has regional varieties, but in general it's a catch-of-the-day dish. I think you captured the spirit of the dish wonderfully!
Oh my oh my... disclaimer... I love your channel. The advice, the style, all. That said, having a Spanish spouse from Valencia and knowing from first hand experience the intense passion and pride of Spain’s de facto national dish and the almost religious fanaticism debate that goes with that, I had to jump in. First, nobody but a Valenciano can make a Paella. :) It’s kinda like saying nobody can make a Champagne but someone from the Champagne region in France. There is even a society established to try and protect the use of Paella as a regional designation, not unlike the Neapolitan pizza society in Italy. Second, it’s pa-é-jya... my best attempt at translating the pronunciation. Yes, my Spanish in-law still laugh at my attempts to get it right! Getting the right cooking pans, utensils, ingredients and process is essential to being able to call a dish like this Paella. Miss any part and you’ve got a nice “paella like” or rice dish. It’s more an issue of tradition really than a cooking thing. Finally, don’t fret about my comments. The most important tradition of the Paella is the ritual criticism that follows the meal. It goes something like... “It was a beautiful paella but the rice was a little soft.” So, great rice dish and the socarrat has me drooling (it’s said to be an aphrodisiac btw) but I doubt any Spaniard would agree with calling this paella. Great channel. Keep the videos coming!
No problem. We can just call it arroz con cosas and we can call American pizza a flat bread with cheese :) I really don't care what this is called. I care about the exact texture of rice and socarrat -- the same stuff people in Valencia care about. That's all about heat management and has nothing to do with pronunciation or which exact veggies one can and can't use. But I completely understand that no one is Valencia would call it paella.
@@helenrennie Ha ha ha!!! To quote Shakespeare "What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Honestly, I'm with you! To hopefully avoid being called a "pointy headed purist" as one of your followers was call, my comments were more a little dig at the somewhat pretentious nature (or more probably light hearted Spanish banter) surrounding the Paella. My points reflect my history and experience in both making and eating this wonderful dish... always with friends and family, never alone! As anyone who knows Spaniard's will tell you, they are fiercely passionate and proud of their country but also, more importantly, of their region within Spain. However, they are also relaxed and fun loving. So what once would have ended in swords being drawn in this battle rich area, now leads to loud, arm waving debates at the kitchen table followed with "un brindis" or a toast to agree to disagree with a beautiful red Spanish tempranillo which makes all things good. I liken it to the same debate over Christmas Trees for those who practice that ritual. It's the traditions that fuels the debates, not the items itself. Since being exposed, I've now made many Paellas now on the stove, outside on a gas burner made for cooking paellas and even over a wood fire in a traditional paellero, the barbecue-like brick structure you will find in outside many Spanish homes. Despite being an "extranjero" and/or "guiri", I've actually managing to make a few paellas that have garnered compliments from event the staunchest traditionalist... my spouse being the hardest! So there is hope! I recall experiencing another of the traditions while standing around a paella being cooked on the open fire with a group of friends. One of the key techniques is getting the salt just right. You need to add just the right amount so that when the broth is reduced and absorbed into the rice, the final result is not too bland nor too concentrated. There is a ritual where everyone standing around gets to taste the broth and give their opinion. When it came to my turn, there were a few winks and nods that I didn't understand and I was temporarily distracted by a friend while the chef took a spoon full of salt from the dish and just topped it with just enough broth to hide it. With completely straight faces, they all watch as the cook slipped the pure brine into my mouth and tried not to gag nor insult the chef while passing my opinion. Of course when they all broke into hilarious laughter, I knew I had been had. Children and foreigners... works every time. One final point... about the cheap $20 pans (or la paellas which is actually the name of the pan the dish is cooked in). You have to go back to the origins of this dish. It was a meal cooked in the fields and farms near Valencia over fire fueled by whatever sticks and twigs could be gathered. Like many of the world's traditional dishes with the starch as the base, rice in this case, it fed the many workers both farmers and fishers alike. The other ingredients were those which were collected near at hand from the countryside, from the fields or from the sea. The thin rolled carbon steel pans could be adapted to any size thus feeding a small family, to a few dozen worker, to hundreds of people during "una fiesta". Olé (cue the flamenco snap and guitar strum). Actually, it is the cheap steel that contributes to this meals great taste. The iron in these pans oxidizes easily contributing to the overall flavour that you can't replicate in a stainless steel or enameled pan. Also, in addition to the taste, it contributes to your daily iron intake like all iron pans, thus keeping you healthy!
@@agustin3479 Helen and Bruce were having a very nice, respectful, and informative conversation. Did you read any of it? You seem very angry. Most people who don’t like a video just move on with their lives instead of coming back again and again to be rude in the comments. Maybe try making your own video since you need a hobby! Show us all how it’s done. 😊
I think you'd struggle to enforce number 1 even in Spain. Just as with pizza; the ship has sailed. While a regional variety (paella valenciana/Neapolitaner pizza) are regulatable/merit protection; the blanket term just describes a basic set of techniques with oodles of local and personal variations
Thank you for making Paella accessible to me in my home. When I want the more authentic Spanish way, then I will go to a Spanish Restaurant............
Glad my mates from the Spanish(or Valencian) inquisition haven't noticed this video yet. Jokes aside, those tips were great and that stock looks delicious!
Followed this recipe carefully and my first attempt was very, very good! Once or twice more and I think I will be able nail it. Flavor was incredible. Rice texture was fantastic. My bottom crust was a tad darker than I would like so I will adjust next time. Overall a true winning recipe and fantastic instruction - which Helen always provides. THANK YOU HELEN!!
This how culinary art progresses! Although my paella’s come out fine the traditional way, your version intrigues me and looks mouthwatering plus i love the addition of the veggies. I might add young artichokes when in season. I will certainly try, moltes gràcies!
I love the channel, enjoy learning, can cook, love Paella. Haven't cooked it as often as i would like. This looks awesome. However, listening to Helen is just so hypnotic to my ears! That voice, so lovely!
Brilliant approach. Valenciana is a state of mind. I can take or leave rabbit and snails, and of course shrimp is an entirely different dish. What we’re looking for is soccarat and you nailed it.
My experience with paella growing up was a glutenous, bland dish that tastes of nothing but boiled saffron and is full of crunchy veggies and rubbery seafood. This version looks toothsome and decadent and I cannot wait to try it!!!
@@agustin3479 didn’t ask thanks! 😊 Helen is a darling who put a disclaimer at the end of her video about authenticity that you clearly didn’t bother to listen to. She never claimed to be making paella valenciana. You can take your bad vibes and get off my comment thanks. 😘 enjoy your superiority on YOUR cooking channel where you make things the RIGHT way. I won’t be subbing.
Will definitely try your approach the next time Helen! I love paella and your approach insures perfectly cooked rice and Socarrat! Always enjoy using your glaze and have for years! Thanks for all your hard work perfecting this!
Helen, your video’s are fantastic. I love your teaching style, your passion for good food and you are so thoughtful for adding the time stamping. I love that. It makes it so much easier to go back if I need to check something again. Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙏💖
Omg that is the most beautiful browned chicken I have ever seen. Adding chicken fat into the holes to brown? Wow!!!! Grilling marinade looks awesome!! Learned so much. So appreciate your meticulous attention to detail! And your blouse is great!! Thank you for your love! And all your techniques Im sure brought this basic dish to the next level!!!
My wife prefers brown rice, so I was not able to get the all important crust at the bottom this time around. The flavors were deeply satisfying and balanced nevertheless. The glaze for the chicken turned out to be the biggest surprise- did not expect it to taste so good (used the maple syrup rather than pomegranate). Tasted even better when I tried it on the grill. Would love to try the paella with shrimp now. Thank you Helen!
Helen, I made this yesterday and it was absolutely diviiine! It was so good that I dreamt about it last night haha. Thank you so much for your recipes! Much love 😘
Great method. Have done the dish for many years with my own ways, but this film gives me answers to the last problems I have had. Thank you very much. Love frem Denmark 😁
I have been watching this channel on and off depending on what I wanted to cook BUT after hearing Helen say those pan are crap, I subscribed. That caught me off guard, made me chuckle, made my day, and thankful that she was being clear.
I’m in awe about how well you explained this to me and rationalised each technique and step and decision. Looks delicious! Definitely gonna give this a whirl.
You won't get any grief from me. I'd never even heard of this dish before. And even if I did, I've enough respect for your thought processes to take what you say seriously.
Congrats Helen! You have just perfected the paella recipe! Hubby loves paella and so we ordered it everywhere we travelled to, including Spain. The truth is, we found the rice is always undercooked and the seafood/meat is way over cooked. Your innovative method of cooking, no doubt has perfect the recipe. I am going to give it try tonight. ThQ! 😋
you are the master of cooking, turning the pan is true, uneven surface and cold spots on outer areas. the holes prevent the rice from burning, if no holes, the rice will burn, that's how Persian rice is done and it never burns
Good aproach and nice results. As a valencian ( and not inquisitor) I recomend add any kind of beans. They give extra starch to the broth. White beans, even fava beans they go well (lime beans were ideal but difficult to find). The best meat is allways white meat ( chicken, rabit, turkey, squail, pigeon, duck...). A pinch of fresh Rosemary at the very end of cooking will move your senses to the Mediterranean sea. Congratulations for your study on paella at home. You catched the idea. Bon profit i visca València!
I love how you’re using all your attention to detail to improve classic recipes. I will surely use your tip on getting a different pan. What kind of paprika do you use? There’s so many varieties, and for a while I was using a hot smoked paprika that was adding a sharp displeasing flavor. It took me a while to figure out the cause, but now I taste paprika plain before deciding how much to use
Chef Rennie, one bit of information I picked up from a Spanish chef is the amount of rice to the pan. Pre-measure the pans bottom with only one layer of rice. Then weigh the rice and use that amount of rice every time in that pan. Then use a two(2) to one ratio of rice to water. You have figured out the rest very well. Your going to get comments, as you said. So what? This is an adventure to be enjoyed by everyone. Continue experimenting and sharing your skills and passion.
My family (Dominican) calls that rice crust concón and it's "rice gold" that everyone wants. Impossible to get in a rice cooker which is why we don't have one at home even if the rice comes out better.
Helen, I hope the praise from all your viewers is sufficient reward for the year this took to create. This is quite probably the constructed and tested recipe I have ever encountered. It's a dish I (as a proficient and adventurous cook) would have been a little afraid of. I made sure to follow every step of the recipe, using all the observations and cues to guide me, and it came out absolutely killer. Gorgeous, crispy socarrat, quite dark, but no hint of bitterness, perfect rice and vegetables, and crisp-skinned chicken. A squeeze of lemon as recommended really brightens the flavours, and may I recommend some chopped pimento-stuffed green olives as a garnish - gives a lovely pop of fresh brininess that really complements the dish.
Isn't it sad that this marvelous teacher had to spend over a year re-learning how to make paella when so many grandmothers who could have taught her and are/were available could have shared their secrets/techniques in a fraction of the time! That said, there's always room for improvement! Thanks for YOUR new discoveries and perspectives, Helen Rennie!
I doubt any of those grandmothers would be using my equipment. They'd be cooking paella for 12 people on a huge burner over an open flame. They would also probably worry more about preserving tradition than about how crispy I want my chicken skin. Trust me -- I had a good time developing this dish. Don't worry , I got a few other things done this year too :)
Update: I made it last night! I lost points for not following directions and burning the rice on the bottom. I didn't have the Calasparra rice - substituted Arborio as that's what's locally available. It was close though - enough to eat what we could and the flavors were fantastic! It takes me a few tries with new recipes so it was sort of expected. I'll try this again soon. Meanwhile, I'll order the rice from Amazon. Cheers!
This dish looks extremely delicious!! You use a lot of techniques that I see mainly in arabian/middle eastern food 👀. Especially with cooking the meat separated from the rice and also forming a rice crust at the bottom of the pan. I don't know if you knew about these things but it was really fun to experience! Marvelous work as always Helen :>
Oh, that is so interesting! I knew that it's a part of middle eastern food, too, but I never connected the dots! It makes sense, as Spain was a part of the Islamic world for about 750 years, and the cultures around the Mediterranean have influenced each other for thousands of years!
I tried making paella once and wanted to make it as authentic as I could. My only problem was a weak burner on a particularly windy day. But it came out all right. With a bit more heat it would have been perfect, both the chicken and the rice. I'm not saying one is better than the other, just wanted to share so that people might not be scared to try. And yes, I had one of those cheap pans, but the even flame somewhat alleviated the problem of a thin bottom. But again, while the flame was even, it was a bit weak.
Great adaptation, Helen. I've been making paella with a traditional (huge) pan (from Valencia) for a few years and looking for a smaller (more reasonable AND affordable) everyday recipe. Thank you! The only thing I might add is a small amount of shrimp (marinaded and steamed on top, near the end) for extra, extra flavor and color. Forgot to mention that turning 90° technique you mentioned cracked me up. I have a gas range, but only 3 burners work, so part of the fun of our paella parties is turning the pan and enjoying a nice glass (or three) of wine. Everyone gets involved... Some clean shrimp, some cut lobster, some wash mussels, some trim chicken, some slice chorizo, some cut the sofrita ingredients...
Wow a series of genius techniques to solve the traditional problems with paella on a home stove. Completely non traditional to achieve similar end results! Can't wait to try this!
i enjoyed seeing Helen's approach with all her 'hacks'.. personally I would only have omitted the carrots. Another good 'hack' is to do a "salmorreta" which is to prepare sofrito ahead and freeze it in portions that you can readily use when needed.
Lauren as a valencian I approve of that socarraet. And the pan logic makes sense for a foreigner, but did you really need to add the onions and carrot :( Its fine its fine
Chilcote compadre you are very polite guy, you really are. If you really valenciana you know that this paella looks like shit, nothing to do with a paella. Is a dry rice with a couple of piece of chicken at the top. Lol, worst paella ever
This is the first one of your videos I've ever watched you are amazing I definitely subscribed and I definitely clicked on the notifications Bell you're amazing can't wait to see more content of yours hopefully you post often.
Without using olive oil, you can cook the chicken skin in a skillet until they are crispy-they release their own fat as oil; the amount of fat they release is huge and good for frying. The skins, salted can be eaten like chips or used as a crunchy garnish somewhere.
I have a paella pan that I've used once lol. It's too big for my stove so I end up using my saute pan instead. Heavier bottom means more consistent socarrat .
Your videos teach me the " why" side of cooking. I guess I'll try grandmas recipe now. I didn't want a bowl of mushy slop so I never tried the recipe. Thanks again Helen
Thanks, Helen. Just before the epidemic, I took a cooking course in Seville to learn how to make Paella. The Paella we made in the class looked good, but the bullet hard rice was unpleasant. I'm going to try your method. Its refinements solve a lot of problems.
Thank you so very much for the time (and money) you spend experimenting in order to bring us your insanely yummy dishes! You do all the hard work and we get the benefits. We look like rockstars to our loved ones because you’ve done all the research for us! You’re a goddess! 💕
This is a very educational video. I really appreciate this! I've been wanting to make a real paella for months! I especially appreciated the information on gelatin and stock, and how it's supposed to work. Very interesting. I just liked, and subbed! Thank you so much ❤️
Lol at the paella purists getting upset at the authenticity of this recipe, as though everyone can simply cook paella in a 20 inch pan on an open fire inside a pokey little apartment with poor ventilation. Be realistic, please! Great video Helen, can't wait to try this! :)
The reason the paella pan is crap is because its not meant for a typical burner. It was designed for cooking over a wood fire. Alternatively one could find a gas burner that is designed for heating all that surface area, but the wood fire flavors the dish in a special way.
I was recently at my cousin’s house for dinner, and he made paella. One seafood and one chicken and chorizo. I thought I would prefer the seafood, but the chicken and chorizo was amazing!!!!
I took a walk on the wild side and made this recipe ---- 3 times !!!! 3 times to get it right. My problem was patience - I did not have enough the first two times. Don't get me wrong the first 2 results were edible just not paella. I changed the recipe a little as I added shrimp to the give the chicken some company. It was very good. Thanks for the good advice. BTW I really liked the Spanish rice.
Ma'am I think you made the chicken pilav/pulao with veggies.. But it's an interesting twist. In Pakistan we don't use veggies but in Northern Pakistan caramelized carrots are uses and some Turkic recipe even use raisens ..keep it up.
I have been doing Adam Raguesa's Fun Size Paella. This looks even better (though a LOT harder than his). This looks so delicious though. I have been getting an uneven sort of socarrat...
Nice job making a high barrier recipe more accessible! If you make other variations of this recipe that use different proteins, do you always cook the protein separately from the rice/veggie part and then top them at the end or is there ever an instance where you would cook the protein with the rice?
Just found your channel love honesty in your videos. Sometimes knowing what “not” to use, is more important than knowing what to use The question is, I cook just for one, not counting the dogs. Making homemade stock is beyond my laziness boundary. Could use a purchased jar concentrate of flavored bouillon, and add some food-safe Gelatin to at least mimic the thickness of homemade? If so how much would you use? Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise Michael
I’m pretty excited to try this! Of course, I don’t like peppers, so I plan to bastardize the dish even more than you! Let the paella police come after me for that!
@@helenrennie that’s very interesting! The paella police would probably equate leaving the peppers out to adding lucky charms! I do not fear them, though!
WOw. I cooked a paella in about 25 minutes and it was good. One year seems a bit long. You'll need a lot of stock. Also "I wish I could get Spanish runner beans" - but use Shiitake mushrooms?? I feel like Uncle Roger.
I'ld like to see how you would make a Seafood paella. It's pretty hard to get all the seafood tender as you shoudn't touch the rice after putting it it. I Have my own technique, but I'ld like to see how you would handle it. 😉. Your paella looks great by the way.
The beans are getting too soft for my liking when u cook them this long. I prefer to keep them separate and add later. carrots cook a lot slower than beans. Otherwise looks great, even though not a purist paella, it looks like a very nice variation.
