BLACK PAELLA

Today, I had the luxury to stay home and cook for Sabrina. In between work and doing other stuff, I managed to squeeze this in. She loves Black Paella. I normally serve this with fried calamari rings with aioli.

You can also cook this at home. It basically takes less than 30 minutes to cook this. Follow the instructions and I think you'll be able to get it right even on the first try...

Here we go....

Place 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a small paellera.  Saute chopped onion on medium heat until fragrant and translucent. 

Add about 1 Tbsp chopped garlic.  Saute until fragrant. Make sure not to brown the garlic. This will make your paella taste bitter.

Add 1 cup of rice. I used Japanese rice. Saute for about 3-5 minutes.

Add this... black ink paste. You can purchase this in gourmet delis. I used 1 1/2 Tbsp because I like my paella really deep black in colour.

Stir black ink with the rice. Stir well so that the rice will be evenly coated with the black colour.

Here's what it should look like after stirring for a minute or so.

Use chicken or seafood stock for the liquid. The  proportion is 2 1/2 cups of liquid for 1 cup of rice.

Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.  

Cover with a foil. Bring the heat to low and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes.

Here's the finished product! After 20 minutes, this is how it will look like. If you want the color to be darker, you may add another 1/2 tbsp of black ink.

You'll know when the paella is ready when the rice is cooked through so don't be afraid to taste it.  Cook it a little longer if you want the bottom part to be a bit toasted. When it's ready, remove the pan from heat and keep it covered until you're ready to serve this.

That's it! It's really easy. Well, I'm about to eat lunch with Sabrina already. We're ready to fry the calamari.  Happy lunch to everyone!!!