Paella Rice For Sushi

The classic Spanish dish gets an oriental flair with the use of lap cheong, shiitake mushrooms, and fresh snow peas in this Asian Paella.

Classic dishes, new flavors. That’s what I’m going for today with this super-duper tasty Asian Paella. I took the classic Spanish dish that I have for some reason been so intimidated to make and gave it my own Asian spin, and I am in LOVE with the result. I make a pretty darn good paella for an amateur, if I do say so myself 😉

Let’s talk for a second about that intimidation factor. I know I’ve said it before, but have you ever come across a dish that you’d die to be able to make on your own, yet that fear of the unknown holds you back? What if said dish takes an insanely long time to make? Or has some crazy involved technique that you have no idea how to do? Well, after forcing myself to tackle things like this Homemade Matcha Pasta and this Whisky Gravlax, I’m very happy to report that this is rarely (if ever) the case. I’m always amazed at how easy something ends up being after I’ve been so afraid to tackle it for so long!

Japanese Rice Paella In A Frying Pan

So if there’s one lesson I want you to walk away with by reading this post (besides how to make an insanely delicious Asian Paella, ) it’s that the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the kitchen are hardly ever so at all, so get in there and give a new dish or technique a shot. You’ll not only broaden your “foodie” horizons, but you’ll also both impress anyone you’re cooking for and help them feel more empowered to get in the kitchen on their own and make something out of the norm.

Okay, enough preaching! Let’s talk about this Asian Paella. I first came up with this idea after the hubs and I had a date night at a fairly new Spanish restaurant here in Santa Barbara called Loquita. They have a huge selection of authentic tapas and main courses, and everything is served family-style so you pretty much have no choice but to share. Did I mention they also make amazing cocktails?

When the hubs and I went there, we decided to keep it fairly simple with just a couple of tapas and one order of paella, which really is enough to serve at least four people (but whoever complained about a few leftovers?) As I started tasting all of the different flavors in the dish – chorizo, chicken, fresh mushrooms and veggies – I realized that I could easily swap in some of my favorite Asian ingredients to give this classic dish a new twist.

Can You Make Paella With Sushi Rice?

I used the popular Chinese sausage lap cheong in lieu of the chorizo, and decided to go with easy-to-cook shrimp instead of the chicken. I also made sure to grab shiitake mushrooms and fresh snow peas along with the usual tomatoes and bell peppers.

Because I was already using so many strong Asian flavors (namely the lap cheong and the shiitake mushrooms) I decided to keep the seasonings of the paella traditional, using smoked paprika and saffron. Be sure to use SMOKED paprika (which you can easily find at any grocery store, including Trader Joe’s) as it will help impart the delicious smoky flavor that will make your paella taste like you’ve been cooking it over open coals all day, rather than the gas grill I recommend using here. Also, if you’re hesitant to make the minor investment in very-expensive saffron, don’t be! As you can see from this recipe, a little bit really goes a long way so it will last you a while.

As far as the cooking process, I used my trusty Gourmet Today cookbook as my guide and followed their suggested technique of cooking the paella in an oven-proof paella pan (or wok, in my case) over a gas grill. Aside from the appliance that you cook the dishes on, from there the process is much like that of making risotto, if you’ve ever ventured into that territory.

Indrek's Sushi Page

You cook the proteins first (here, that means the shrimp and the lap cheong) and then add most of the vegetables. After those ingredients have gotten a good head start on cooking, you add the rice and then the chicken broth, stirring occasionally until the rice has soaked up nearly all of the broth and other delicious seasonings.

One other quick note RE: the rice. I did not use the traditional Bomba rice that most paella recipes call for, simply because I was too lazy to track some down and already had some sushi rice on hand, which still worked wonderfully! The only thing I did notice was that it got mushier the longer the paella sat, because it continued to soak up any sort of liquid that was left in the pan. This shouldn’t be an issue if you’re serving your Asian Paella hot off the grill (which is THE best way, I might add) but perhaps stop the cooking process a little bit earlier (before all of the liquid is completely absorbed) if you’re planning on reheating the dish to serve later.

The recipe technique I followed in Gourmet said the entire cooking process would take about two hours, and they were spot on. If you ask me, that’s not too intimidating and means that this recipe is still totally doable for any night of the week when you need to serve a crowd.

Matiz Catalan Paella Rice

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The classic Spanish dish gets an oriental flair with the use of lap cheong, shiitake mushrooms, fresh snow peas and so much more!Paella! This famous saffron infused rice dish is a traditional Spanish recipe that comes fully loaded with seafood or anything your heart desires! You don’t need a paella pan to cook paella, any skillet or even a large pot will do, and it’s surprisingly straightforward to make.

If you’ve always wanted to but been too afraid to try Paella, I can assure you – there is no reason to be scared! If you approach it the right way – and I like to keep my recipes as risk free as possible – you will end up withrice that’s cooked

Carolina Medium Grain Rice For Paella

The beauty of paella is that it is in fact extremely flexible. Don’t get too hung up about getting the exact seafood I use. Don’t listen to the authors who tell you that you MUST use homemade fish broth or buy extremely expensive seafood stock.

Cookbook, Paella, whether it be for a quick midweek meal or a large festive gathering, is meant to be relaxed and fun, not stressful withstrict rules.

I say this is a straightforward recipe but I AM going to spend a bit more time on explaining steps and process visuals than I usually do (short recipe video extremely helpful for first timers) because I’m guessing paella is a bit of a special occasion dish for many and I want to ensure you nail it! (And you will, I promise – if you follow my steps!)

Vegan Banana Blossom Paella

Paella rice packets tend to be very helpful providing clues such as pictures of Paella or “perfect for paella!” splashed across it. 🙂

Where to find paella rice – here in Australia, paella rice is sold at most Woolworths and Harris Farms, some Coles, delis, Spanish or Mediterranean delis (some Italian ones too), or gourmet stores.

Paella rice is a short grain variety of rice (ie it is short in length, distinctly different frombasmati which is very long). The unique quality of paella rice is that it absorbs more liquid than other types of rice without getting bloated and mushy, making it ideal for a dish like paella where you want the rice to absorb loads of flavour.

Chef's Choice Bomba Spanish Paella Rice 500g

) which has similar characteristics ie. ability to absorb lots of liquid, except risotto goes creamy if you stir it. The next best is medium grain rice – the same rice I use for rice pudding.

I do not recommend using: brown rice, long grain white rice, black rice, wild rice or any other fancy type of rice. And in anticipation of someone asking –

But outside of Spain, it’s considered a key ingredient – and it adds a ton of flavour to the dish. 25 million Aussies would throw uptheirhands in protest if I left it out! So it’s in. 🙂

Easy Paella Inspired Rice Casserole • Just One Cookbook

Forgot to include calamari in the above photo! if you don’t find rings, buy a squid tube then slice it – as pictured below.

This part is pretty straightforward. The only key tip here is to only cook the squid/calamari for 90 seconds – squid cooks super fast and goes rubbery quite quickly!

You don’t need a paella pan. Any large skillet will work fine – or even a wide pot.In fact, paella pans require more advanced cooking skills because the everyday paella pans tend to be quite thin which makes the rice veryprone to burning unless you

The Sushi Fication Of The Paella By The Kitchen Masochist