Food Report: Seafood Paella

So yeah, you might be wondering why I’m bothering to post about me making dinner… well… paella holds a special place in my heart…

It all started with that episode of Lucky Star where the Hiiragi sisters make paella. Then I decided I wanted to make paella.

Holds a special place in my heart.

That’s about all there is to the story.

Well, paella is expensive enough as it is considering you have to use saffron (I used to sub saffron with tumeric, but the difference in taste is huge!), but seafood paella? My college student budget couldn’t handle it. It was definitely something I’ve always wanted to try though…

Now, with my dad’s considerable stocks of frozen fish and shrimp… it was go time!

Paella phase 1

In case you’re wondering, those red strands in the pan are the saffron. When I say saffron is expensive, I really do mean expensive. A 1 gram bottle of the stuff cost me $10. Luckily, paella doesn’t call for much of it, so that bottle should last me about 5 times.

Paella phase 2

When making paella, you’re supposed to let the stock and liquids and stuff get completely absorbed, but it took a really long time in this case. I’m wondering if it’s because I had to sub in brown rice instead of white rice? Or maybe the heat was too low?

Seafood Paella - Restores 500HP when eaten.

Well, here it is. Turns out the cod and shrimp were a little overcooked… eh. I also subbed the fish stock with instant dashi stock (made with hondashi), and the stock turned out a bit sweeter than I expected… eh.

And they act like being easily influenced by Anime is a bad thing.