Seafood Squid Ink Paella

Call me “Sua Gu”! Seriously! I have not ate Paella (pronounce as pah/EH/yah) before until like a month ago. I am not a seafood lover. I don’t mind having them but I will not purposely order them. So every time I see a sizzling pan of yellowish rice topped with tons of seafood, I will just give that a miss. Until once fine day, my friend brought me to House @ Dempsey and tried their Squid Ink Paella, my virgin paella. And that marked the beginning of my love affair with Paella. I started on my research on Paella – what kind of rice, cooking method, basic/base ingredients (sofrito), etc

Paella is very different from Risotto and it’s a lot easier as compare to Risotto. Unlike risotto which requires a lot of stirring, you have to refrain from stirring for paella as you want as little starch release as possible (stirring will encourage releasing of starch). Traditional Paella uses Bomba Rice which I couldn’t get it in Singapore. Arborio rice can be use as substitute but refrain from using carnanoli rice as the latter is starchier.

Do not be tempted to add more water halfway during cooking even though the water seems to dry up. You would want a thin layer of slightly crispy rice and the paella to be drier instead of mushy.

Squid ink are available in either small tub or sachet. They are easily found in premium supermarket in Singapore or PH Delicatessen (Clementi Ave 3).