Paella - the Food Orgasm Experience
You have no idea...
You have no idea how incredibly badly I want to make this dish (how could you if I haven't told you). And now that I made it, I want to tell the world about it. Every time I watch a celebrity chef create this dish on TV, the little voice in my head says (with echoing effects) "man, I really need to make this". It's absolutely unreal. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the sympathy of seafood that by itself already escalates a dish. Or maybe it's the beautiful combination of herbs. Most of all, I think it's because of the simple fact that rice is being made with flavour. Wow! Flavoured rice. What a radical concept. Yes, us Chinese, though have dishes such as chicken rice or the like, don't usually make rice with a ginormous amount of ingredients. I am a rice fanatic. I love those tiny white grains. And the Paella just takes it the next level. Here's my story.
I wasn't going to write about it because it was not done very well. But then I thought: "the hell with it, there's alot of valuable lessons to be shared here". Though it wasn't perfect, it tasted damn good. You know what, I am darn proud of it.
I decided two weeks ago that I am done with just cooking for the sake of "not eating out". I've been making boring dishes for what feels like: sustenance. Maybe I'll blog about that decision too. One night (I think it was a Tuesday), I picked 3 dishes from my favorite cookbook (Gordan Ramsay Home Cooking) and bought ingredients for them. This week was the second week and like the first, I picked 3 dishes. Paella was the first on my list.
Sunday afternoon, my wife and I went went grocery shopping (at different places). There were a surprisingly long list of ingredients for this dish. I was able to find most things but saffron (I was surprised I found chorizo sausage). It's what gives the dish its colour.
Sunday evening came and I started chopping and washing. As an side, my onion chopping skill is now quite superior. No tears, no mess, no waste. Thanks GR! I was sweating my onion and red pepper and things were going well. When it came time to add the cooking liquid, I was stumped. I added the amount recommended in the recipe and that was a mistake (should have added x2 of amount rice). It was way too much. Maybe I had too little rice or maybe the type of rice, I really don't know.
Despite the pasty textured rice, the dish turned out quite beautiful. The flavour of the shrimp, mussels, chicken, garlic, onion, parsley, paprika, red pepper, chorizo sausages and chicken stock worked surprising well together. We enjoyed it immensely and I mean that. It was like food orgasm (is there really such a thing). We stuffed our face until we could stuff no more. That's when it hit me, I should have made this dish years ago. But since Elon Musk still needs a bit more time to invent time travel, now is as good a time as any.
You have no idea how incredibly badly I want to make this dish (how could you if I haven't told you). And now that I made it, I want to tell the world about it. Every time I watch a celebrity chef create this dish on TV, the little voice in my head says (with echoing effects) "man, I really need to make this". It's absolutely unreal. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the sympathy of seafood that by itself already escalates a dish. Or maybe it's the beautiful combination of herbs. Most of all, I think it's because of the simple fact that rice is being made with flavour. Wow! Flavoured rice. What a radical concept. Yes, us Chinese, though have dishes such as chicken rice or the like, don't usually make rice with a ginormous amount of ingredients. I am a rice fanatic. I love those tiny white grains. And the Paella just takes it the next level. Here's my story.
I wasn't going to write about it because it was not done very well. But then I thought: "the hell with it, there's alot of valuable lessons to be shared here". Though it wasn't perfect, it tasted damn good. You know what, I am darn proud of it.
I decided two weeks ago that I am done with just cooking for the sake of "not eating out". I've been making boring dishes for what feels like: sustenance. Maybe I'll blog about that decision too. One night (I think it was a Tuesday), I picked 3 dishes from my favorite cookbook (Gordan Ramsay Home Cooking) and bought ingredients for them. This week was the second week and like the first, I picked 3 dishes. Paella was the first on my list.
Sunday afternoon, my wife and I went went grocery shopping (at different places). There were a surprisingly long list of ingredients for this dish. I was able to find most things but saffron (I was surprised I found chorizo sausage). It's what gives the dish its colour.
Sunday evening came and I started chopping and washing. As an side, my onion chopping skill is now quite superior. No tears, no mess, no waste. Thanks GR! I was sweating my onion and red pepper and things were going well. When it came time to add the cooking liquid, I was stumped. I added the amount recommended in the recipe and that was a mistake (should have added x2 of amount rice). It was way too much. Maybe I had too little rice or maybe the type of rice, I really don't know.
Despite the pasty textured rice, the dish turned out quite beautiful. The flavour of the shrimp, mussels, chicken, garlic, onion, parsley, paprika, red pepper, chorizo sausages and chicken stock worked surprising well together. We enjoyed it immensely and I mean that. It was like food orgasm (is there really such a thing). We stuffed our face until we could stuff no more. That's when it hit me, I should have made this dish years ago. But since Elon Musk still needs a bit more time to invent time travel, now is as good a time as any.
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