Mexican Seafood Rice with Chicken, Vegetables and Paprika

Name: Mexican Seafood Rice with Chicken, Vegetables and Paprika
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Mexican cuisine
Ingredients: Rice 1 cup; Seafood (mussels, shrimp, octopus, squid, etc.) 200 g; Bell pepper 0.5; Tomato 1-2; Chili pepper 1; Garlic 1 head; Carrot 1; Onion 1; Chicken thigh or drumstick 1; Olive oil 50 ml; Sweet paprika, ground chili, salt, saffron or marigold to taste

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Spicy, slightly hot Mexican-style seafood rice with vegetables and spices is a bit like Valencian paella, though it differs a lot in taste and method. There are many similar dishes with almost the same recipes and techniques, all based on cooking rice in liquid that it absorbs. The best known of them is plov, or pilaf. Most rice-eating peoples of the world probably have a dish like this; even the simplest rice with carrots, a little sausage and paprika will make you happy.

The Creole dish jambalaya takes its name, apparently, from the French jambon, meaning ham. It's made with various sausages and ham, though fish and seafood often go in too. This hearty, tasty mix of different ingredients is very popular in many countries. An amazing combination of meat and fish in one dish, and in its simplest form, just rice with onion.

Paella is a Valencian dish, although many are sure it's Spanish in general. It's made in a similar way, with chicken, sausage and vegetables. The word paella comes from the Latin patella, meaning “pan”. There are many paella recipes, several hundred. But real paella needs that huge pan the villagers of Villarriba and Villabajo washed in the old TV commercial. Anyone still remember it?

Real Valencian paellas, such as seafood paella (paella de marisco) or mixed paella (paella mixta), can probably only be tasted in Valencia. Not to mention all sorts of Italian risottos, like seafood risotto, a masterpiece of world cuisine!

The people of the Americas haven't lagged behind the Europeans. In Mexico and other Central and Latin American countries, rice dishes are very popular: rice with game, rice with chili, seafood rice and so on.

Try making seafood rice the way it's made in Mexico, Mexican-style rice, adjusted for heat, of course. Although, to my taste, the heat only enhances the experience, especially if you serve it with cornbread, tortillas and guacamole. You can use it for tacos too.

Ingredients

2 servings

Rice 1 cup
Seafood (mussels, shrimp, octopus, squid, etc.) 200 g
Bell pepper 0.5
Tomato 1-2
Chili pepper 1
Garlic 1 head
Carrot 1
Onion 1
Chicken thigh or drumstick 1
Olive oil 50 ml
Sweet paprika, ground chili, salt, saffron or marigold to taste

Step-by-step recipe

To make tasty, slightly spicy Mexican-style rice, you need the most ordinary fresh vegetables, available year-round: a carrot, a large onion, a head of garlic, a ripe tomato. You also need a small bell pepper or half of a large one; the color doesn't matter. If you like it hot, have a fresh chili pod ready.
To make Mexican-style seafood rice, take care of the chicken stock in advance. Simmer a chicken leg quarter or drumstick in 0.5 liters of water until cooked. Take out the chicken, let it cool and cut the meat into small pieces. Strain the stock. Don't add spices or salt to the stock.
Peel the onion, carrot and bell pepper. Scald the tomato with boiling water, remove the skin and seeds, and chop the flesh very finely with a knife. Cut the onion into thick strips. Dice the carrot and pepper. Separate the garlic into cloves without peeling them.
Seafood rice is best made with long-grain rice that stays fluffy: parboiled or basmati. Spanish Calasparra or Bomba rice works great too; it's ideal for paella.
Rice is usually rinsed well under cold running water until the water runs clear. But these days most stores sell parboiled rice, which doesn't need rinsing.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and let it warm through a little so the natural oil smell fades. Fry the chopped onion, pepper and carrot in the olive oil for 5-6 mins, stirring constantly.
Add the unpeeled garlic cloves and tomato flesh, salt lightly, and add sweet paprika to taste and a pinch of coarsely ground dried chili. Red paprika gives the dish a special aroma and flavor, so don't be stingy. I added a heaped teaspoon.
Simmer the vegetables covered over the lowest heat until soft. You should get a thick vegetable stew. It takes about 15 mins.
Add the rice and stir it well into the vegetables. Add saffron or marigold. Fry uncovered over medium heat for 3-4 mins.
Next, add the chopped chicken and pour in 1 cup of chicken stock. Simmer the rice and vegetables covered until the rice has absorbed all the stock, and only then add more stock in small portions. It's very hard to guess how much liquid the rice will absorb, so add the stock a little at a time, a quarter cup at a time, tasting the rice for doneness now and then.
Rice usually takes up to 20 mins to cook. 1-2 mins before it's done, add the thawed seafood to the rice. Cover the seafood with water beforehand, bring to a boil and rinse right away in cold water. Stir the seafood into the rice and, if you like, add some very finely chopped fresh chili and a little chicken stock.
Cook the Mexican-style rice covered until the rice is fully done and has absorbed all the moisture. To help it, lower the heat and pile the rice into a mound. Keep it over low heat, stirring now and then, until the last of the moisture evaporates and the rice is slightly fluffy. Don't aim for the texture of plov: rice with seafood is something in between. If you didn't add too much liquid, you may not need to cook off any extra. Also remember that seafood doesn't like long cooking.
The finished Mexican-style rice is a deep, intense yellow. Put the seafood rice on plates, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and cilantro if you like, and serve hot.