What is Paella de Marisco?

Are you tired of eating regular dishes? Do you want to try something different that would be delicious and nutritious simultaneously? Then “paella de Marisco” is a perfect dish for you. Besides, you will be happy to know that this dish includes all the regular ingredients like rice, seafood, fresh spices, olive oil, etc. Despite carrying traditional elements, this dish will give the best taste with different flavors. It is prominently a Valencian traditional dish in Spain. This dish is also known as a popular dish in Spanish cuisine. In this article, you will get all the information about this dish. We will highlight its origin, recipe, nutritional value, health benefits, world records, etc. Let’s enjoy ourselves together!

Definition of “Paella de Marisco”

Before knowing about it, firstly, let’s gather some knowledge about paella! Precisely what is this? Paella is the most delicious, outstanding, and renowned dish in Valencia, Spain. Usually, Valencia is a region of Spain, and paella is considered to be their traditional and national dish Internationally, it is known as a Spanish dish. But Spanish says that it is the identifying dish of the Valencian people. However, paella can be found in many regions of Spain. It is a rice-based dish with other ingredients like- meat, chicken, rabbit, duck, selfish, snail, tomato, butter beans, sweet paprika, salt, olive oil, water, etc. All ingredients are cooked together in a large pan on an open fire.

But what is the meaning of “paella de Marisco”?

Actually, depending on the cooking ingredients, there are several types of paella dishes. Among them five types are main.

1. Paella de marisco: It means seafood paella. This dish is made of rice, green vegetables, and seafood instead of meat and other spices. Seafood juice provides a nice flavor than other paella dishes.

2. Paella mixta: The combination of paella valenciana and paella de marisco is called paella mixta. You will find everything in this, including chicken, rabbit, meat, seafood, rice, vegetables, etc.

4. Paella de Verduras: It is a vegetable-based paella dish where you will get a lot of vegetables instead of seafood, meat, and rabbit.
5. Paella Negra: This paella is specially made of squid ink and is black in color. Sometimes this dish also contains seafood.

The naming of this dish: There are some different opinions about the naming of this phenomenon dish. We have listed some Opinions!

Valencian word: Actually, paella is a Valencian word that means “frying pan.” Valencia’s pan is called paella, including a superficial classical one. This pan contains two handles and is polished with steel. Mainly it’s a rice dish preparing a pan.

Latin word: It is claimed that paella comes from the Latin word “patella.” It means pan.

Latin American word: Paila is an American Latin word that is similar to paella. It means a cookware item made of metal.

Arabic word: The Arabic word Baqaayaa means “leftovers.” In the 8th century, a Moorish king’s servant made a dish with rice, vegetables, and meat. So there is a saying. Perhaps the paella word comes from Arabic countries.

Origin- where it comes from! In Spain, rice cultivation started in the 10th century. Moorish Muslims began this process as they reached Spain via valencia. Later Valencia became the famous and most prominent area for producing rice. Consequently, Valencians cooked rice, fish, meat, and vegetables for their occasion or family program. Afterward, rice became the leading food of Spain in the 15th century. In fact, people started to cook rice combined with meat, fish, and vegetables. At that time, Spanish Mediterranean ate rice, especially with fish, and it was their staple food. After that, in valencia, farmers and farm workers used to eat paella at lunchtime. They collect all the ingredients available around the farm and cook them with rice. They also added species, duck or rabbit and hardly chicken. In the 18th century, near Albufera lake, they cooked rice in the open air during their occasion. Even they used calderas for preparing the dish. Eel, butter beans, and water vole meat were the key ingredients of paella. After that, the lifestyle of Spain improved slowly. As a result, the ingredients of paella have been changing. They used rabbit, duck, chicken, and sometimes snails in the paella recipes. This sapid became so popular in 1840 that a local Spanish newspaper published this recipe. They used the word “paella” instead of pan. Finally, this dish became famous worldwide due to its taste, flavor, and texture. Below, you will find the total ingredients for paella dishes used internationally.

• Chicken
• Rabbit
• Snail- it’s optional. If you wish, you can skip it.
• Duck- it’s optional. You can skip it according to your wish.
• White grain rice
• Butter beans
• Great northern beans
• Runner beans
• Fresh rosemary
• Tomatoes
• Saffron
• Garlic
• Sweet paprika
• Olive oil
• water.

But poor Valencians use only snails instead of meat sometimes. However, they said there is no need to use more ingredients to make modern paella dishes. They also avoid using fresh rosemary in this dish. Lourdes March, a Spanish food historian, said that- “Symbolizes the union and heritage of two important cultures, the Roman which gives us utensils and the Arab which bought us the basic food of humanity for centuries.”

How to make this fantastic dish

“Paella de Marisco” or seafood paella is another variation of paella dishes packed with delicious and nutritious sea fishes. During summer, fresh sea fishes are available coming from the sea. That is why, in summer, you will get the best flavor, texture, and taste of this dish. The cooking process of this dish is almost similar to a regular paella dish. Before starting the preparation process, you must clean the seafood properly. Try to use a brush to clean the mussels and clams because they contain duets from the sea. Also, clean other seafood ingredients carefully as they will be cooked on top of the rice.

Key ingredients

Actually, cooking ingredients depend on one’s personal preference. It varies from person to person, but this dish’s principal components are standard. So we will try to cover up all the traditionally essential ingredients used in Spain’s cuisine. Let’s have a look!

Seafood

• 10 pcs cooked mussels
• 10 pcs cooked clams
• 100 gm fish fillet
• 6pcs cooked shrimps

Spices

• 1 chopped red bell pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/4th cup chopped scallions
• 1ts paprika
• 1 chopped onion
• 4 cloves chopped garlic

Other important ingredients

• 1 cup paella rice
• 3 cups clam stock
• 1 tomato sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Preparation: Traditionally, Paella was cooked over an open fire. Due to this process, it provides an extra smoky flavor. But nowadays, it is cooked on a gas stove/gas burner or grill. Add smoked paprika to get that previewed smokey flavor, which works nicely. Though, everyone has their own recipe and personal touch on this dish. , But we will present the traditional cooking process.

Let’s cook the dish!

Step- 1: Take the garlic, crush it with a blender and pulse it.

Step- 2: Now add the parsley and pulse it again until it turns into a smooth paste

Step- 3: In this mixture, add olive and paprika. Then set them aside.

Step- 4:Take oil in a paella (pan0 and heat it on a medium to high flame.

Step- 5: If the pan is heated correctly, fry both sides of the fish until it turns light brown. After proper frying, remove the fish from the pan and keep it aside.

Step- 6: Afterward, fry shrimp in the same process until the color turns orange. Finally, remove them from the pan and keep them aside.

Step- 7: Now take onions, bell pepper, and scallions in the same pan and saute them properly.

Step- 8: Add tomato to it and cook until it becomes soft.

Step- 9: Add clam stock to this mixture and leave it to boil.

Step- 10: Take the paste of garlic, parsley, and paprika paste, add the paste to the pan, and stir.

Step- 11: Add Spanish saffron to it and stir.

Step- 12: Now it’s time to add rice to the Paella and let it boil again.

Step- 13: This time, add fried fish fillet and salt.

Step- 14: Let the dish cook for 20 to 25 minutes until the rice is perfectly cooked.

Step- 15: If rice takes too much time to cook, then cover it.

Step- 16: Add all cooked seafood- shrimp, clamps, mussels, and roasted bell pepper to the rice.

Step- 17: Turn the heat off and cover the Paella with foil paper. Leave it for 5 minutes

Step- 18: Finally, garnish with a lemon wedge and chopped parsley.

Step- 19: Now serve the dish and enjoy it with your family and friends.

Is it essential to take a Paella pan?

Not exactly! But try to take a large wide pan. The perfect size would be 22 to 24 inches in diameter. The large paella pan is about 27 inches, and the small one is 17 inches.

Recipe Notes: When you decide to make a dish, you must follow some essential secret tips about that dish. Here, you must follow some instructions to make this dish perfectly.

• Spread olive oil: When you put the paella pan in the gas oven, spread olive oil in the pan with a paper towel. It will keep your pan safe from oxidizing.
• Medium heat: The best way to cook paella de Marisco is on a medium flame. It’s a secret tip to cook correctly.
• A thin layer of rice: Try to make a thin layer of rice. It will make the dish more delicious and also produce burnt rice.
• Don’t stir more: When the ingredients of this dish start simmering, don’t stir anymore. Like other dishes, there is no need to stir again and again. It’s an amazing pan, and it has its own preparation method. If you stir more continuously, everything will be destroyed.
• Socarrat: If you cook the dish on a medium flame, all the ingredients go automatically in their position. Rice will stay on the bottom line, and other components, including vegetables, seafood go on the top. The bottom layer is called “Socarrat.” All paella lovers are very much fond of this highly sapid layer.
• Use a wide burner: Make sure you use a wide burner for cooking. It will provide the same heat around the pan.
• Take fresh ingredients: Try to take fresh and authentic ingredients to enjoy the best taste ever.

Nutritional value: Here, we will point out this dish’s nutritional value.

• Serving - 300gm
• Calories- 460 kcal
• Fat- 24 gm
• Saturated fat- 11 gm
• Unsaturated fat-13 gm
• Trans fat- 0 gm
• Protein- 43 gm
• Carbohydrate- 15 gm
• Fiber- 2 gm
• Sugar- 2gm
• Cholesterol 230 mg
• Sodium- 1900 mg

Health benefits of “paella de Marisco”

There is a common question, is it a healthy dish?? Why not! Firstly take a look at its ingredients! You will be surprised for sure. Undoubtedly, paella de Marisco is a healthy dish with a package of nutritional food elements like- rice, seafood, vegetables, fresh spices, olive oil, etc. Not only is it an extremely sapid dish, but also it is beneficial to our health.

Rich in fiber: It is a dish full of fiber which plays a vital role in managing the colon microflora.

Provides energy: One of the critical ingredients is rice which contains carbohydrates. So it provides energy to our body to slow the absorption of carbohydrates.

Improve bone health: As seafood, shrimp is a good source of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus and is also rich in protein. Some studies claim that proper protein intake can decrease bone fracture in older people.

Contain low-fat: It is a low-fat dish. To lead a healthy life, we should eat low-fat food.

Highly beneficial oil: Olive is highly beneficial to our health, and this dish is cooked with olive oil.

Nutritious food elements: “Paella de Marisco” contains various types of nutritious food elements. They prove huge essential nutritional benefits to our bodies.

Omega- 3 fatty acid: Seafood is the primary source of omega-3 fatty acids, which benefits our brain, heart, eyes, etc.

Weight loss: Shrimp is low-calorie and high-protein seafood. The presence of shrimp in this dish helps to cut your weight slowly.

• Good for the heart: This dish includes fresh vegetables, fish, and a proper amount of salt. These lead to keeping our heart disease free.
• Affordable: It’s a traditional dish that carries available and inexpensive food elements. So you can enjoy this delicious food item with your near one without hesitation.
• Improve brain health: Seafood is a highly nutritious food that can prevent severe neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s.
• Gluten-free: It is made of all-natural ingredients. So this dish is perfect for those who are intolerant to lactose and gluten.
• Decrease joint pain: Nowadays, joint pain is the most common problem in older. Doctors suggest that if you eat a proper amount of seafood daily, you will get rid of this in your older age.

World records: In 2001, on 2 October a Valencian restaurateur made the largest paella. A team of workers helped him to prepare this dish. About 110 000 people were fed that dish, according to his website. It took place in the Guinness world records book. He made another enormous paella on 8 march 1992, which ate almost 100 000 people.

So you want to try this excellent dish? Don’t be tense! Scroll up and go with our instructions. Very easy and straightforward to make this dish. Ingredients are also cheap and available. Trust me, you will surely enjoy it with your family and friends. However, add this dish to your diet if you want substantial health benefits. So, just try for once!