Paella Valenciana

Dr. Gil Francis L. PELAGIO

Kapampangans can make delectable dishes from seemingly inedible things. Our character defines our culture. And our culture lies in our cuisine.

My grandmother used to cook this during pyestang balen (town fiesta). The recipe was handed down for generations by oral tradition. This elaborate dish was never served after my grandmother died, as it was too tedious to prepare. My wife and I somehow got the idea to revive the recipe after our trip to Barcelona, Spain. I was surprised that my grandmother’s recipe was in so many ways similar to the recipe from Spain!

GUAGUA

Suam Mais Paella Valenciana

PAN 6 - 8 DIFFICULT 3 HR 30 MiN

abias saffron pusit paro taung chorizo tomato paste larang suklati green peas ebun lemon sibuyas

We started preparing it again in 2017. It employs the method of pre-cooking the rice, prior to stirring it in with the other ingredients. We use chicken stock to boil the rice, as this adds a richer flavor. Likewise, the origin of your saffron determines the intensity of the flavor of your paella. We’ve tried saffron from the Middle East and India, but we think the saffron from Spain truly brings out the best taste.

In a paella pan over a medium-high flame, heat olive oil and sear the pusit and the paro.. In a separate pot, boil the taung and season it with salt. After searing the pusit and the paro, transfer them to a plate and set aside. Now, sear the chorizo and chopped sibuyas, stirring until cooked. Add 2-3 tbsps of tomato paste while stirring.

Add 2 cups of pre-cooked nasi onto the paella pan. Mix it until well combined. Add 2 cups of water and a pinch of saffron. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and let it simmer until the rice is cooked for about 10-15mins. Top with seafood and cover. Garnish with larang suklati, green peas, ligang ebun and lemon.

There you have it. Paella Valenciana!

During my school days, my friends called me “Alice Kamatis” (just rhyming the words).I was usually first in line during assembly for Monday flag ceremony.. I’ll let you figure out why. My ambition was to be a lawyer, to defend and protect others in court But, as it turned out, I became a doctor. It was the same intention, but in a different way, to defend and protect others from illness. I used to watch my Lola Telang (my grandmother) and Dang Onya (our cook) prepare tinolang tugak (rice field frog broth) from scratch when I was a kid. They would laboriously clean live frogs, skinning them using powdered charcoal, to simmering them into a sumptuous broth. At such a young age I was exposed to what would later awaken me to the famed Kapampangan culinary arts. Fast forward that to my biology course back in college. My classmates and I would remove the spines of live frogs and later dissect them for our dreaded comparative anatomy classes. That was not as fun as watching my grandma and our cook prepare frogs for cooking!