Paella Pinoy

by Ariel Jasa
(Mandaluyong City)

Paella Pinoy

Paella is one of the most famous international dishes. What could be better than a bunch of great tasting seafood of squid, shrimp, clams or mussel, plus the meat and the chorizos on top of saffron rice.

I call my version Paella Pinoy because I didn't use saffron which is very expensive, I used crab paste and the tomato paste to give color and flavor more apt to my Pinoy palate and used the liquid from mussels to cook the rice.

Try it and I am positive you will like it.

Ingredients:

3 cups Rice (uncooked)
1/4 kilo Shrimp
1/4 kilo Squid (sliced)
1/2 kilo Mussel
1 piece Chorizo de Bilbao
2 tablespoon Crab paste (Taba ng talangka)
2 tablespoon Tomato paste
2 tablespoon Liquid seasoning
2 tablespoon Patis
1 ½ liters Water
2 pieces Onion
6 cloves Garlic
2 thumb size Ginger

Procedure:

1. Saute half of the garlic, onion and ginger in oil.
2. Add the mussel and let the liquid extract.
3. Add patis and let it cook for a while.
4. Add the water and let it boil until the mussels open up./ set aside.
5. In a large pan, saute the remaining onion and garlic in oil.
6. Add the shrimp and the squid plus the chorizo.
7. Add the liquid seasoning and let it cook for a while.
8. Set aside the seafood and the chorizo, leave the oil.
9. In the same pan, add the crab paste and the tomato paste.
10. Then add the rice, mix for a while.
11. Pour in 4 cups of liquid from the cooked mussel and cover it, let the rice cook in low heat.
12. When the rice is about to cook, arrange the seafood and the meat at the top of the rice.
13. Cover the pan again until the rice fully cooked.
14. Top it with sliced spring onion.