Servings: 4

1 cup uncooked Bomba rice (do not rinse) 1 cup uncooked Bomba rice (do not rinse)
3 cup plus a little extra chicken stock (home made and unsalted - having a bit more is good since some will boil off during heating) 3 cup plus a little extra chicken stock (home made and unsalted - having a bit more is good since some will boil off during heating)
1 - 2 teaspoon of saffron threads (more is better but that shit is expensive) 1 to 2 teaspoon of saffron threads (more is better but that shit is expensive)
small spring of fresh rosemary (like 2” long) small spring of fresh rosemary (like 2” long)
canola oil for cooking chicken / sofrito (or you can use all olive oil and be careful with the heat) canola oil for cooking chicken / sofrito (or you can use all olive oil and be careful with the heat)
olive oil for adding directly to rice (tasty oil) olive oil for adding directly to rice (tasty oil)
3 de-boned, skin-on chicken thighs 3 de-boned, skin-on chicken thighs
2 soft chorizo links, such as Bilbao or Palacios 2 soft chorizo links, such as Bilbao or Palacios
1.5 teaspoon Spanish sweet pimenton (paprika) 1.5 teaspoon Spanish sweet pimenton (paprika)
3 clove garlic, medium-minced (too small and it will burn) 3 clove garlic, medium-minced (too small and it will burn)
3/4 cup medium-chopped onion (1/2 a large yellow onion) ¾ cup medium-chopped onion (½ a large yellow onion)
1/4 cup medium-chopped red bell pepper (1/3 of a pepper) ¼ cup medium-chopped red bell pepper (⅓ of a pepper)
1/2 cup grated tomato or plain tomato puree (more consistent than finding good tomatoes) ½ cup grated tomato or plain tomato puree (more consistent than finding good tomatoes)
2 roasted red piquillo peppers cut into 1/4 x 1/2 strips (these come in a jar) 2 roasted red piquillo peppers cut into ¼ x ½ strips (these come in a jar)
big handfull green beans cut into 3” pieces big handfull green beans cut into 3” pieces
one big juicy (soft) lemon rolled on the table to make it more juicy one big juicy (soft) lemon rolled on the table to make it more juicy
kosher salt (the kind that’s sorta flaky so you can sprinkle it and still see it) kosher salt (the kind that’s sorta flaky so you can sprinkle it and still see it)
fresh ground pepper (seriously do not use the pre-ground shit) fresh ground pepper (seriously do not use the pre-ground shit)

Stock: subheading: Stock:
Heat stock over low heat in a covered 4-quart pot. Add saffron, rosemary and 1.0 to 1.5 teaspoon of kosher salt. Do not add the salt if you are using salted chicken broth - which you shouldn’t be cause that is sad. Adding salt now will make sure the rice itself has great flavor. Let the stock slowly heat up so that the saffron and rosemary flavor the stock.
Chorizo: subheading: Chorizo:
Cut the chorizo into ½” rounds and then cut each one in half. In a non-stick skillet cook the half-moons over medium-low heat. The goal is to slowly cook them but have enough heat to get a bit of char on each side. Flip the pan every few minutes. This should take about 5 minutes if the temp is right.
Put the chorizo on a paper towel to let the oil drain off. We do not want that oil in the paella as it is too strong.
Chicken: subheading: Chicken:
Put the paella pan on the burner and pour in enough canola oil so that if you could get it to cover the whole pan it would be 1 mm deep. The reality is that your pan will not be flat nor will your stove. Notice where the oil collects so that you can tilt the pan to spread it out while adding the chicken. Turn the heat on medium-low so that the pan starts to heat but not so high that the oil smokes. We will get there but only once the chicken is ready to cook.
If needed debone the chicken by carefully making an initial cut along the bone and then using the knife edge to scrape the muscle from the bone until you can cut out the bone. Use your fingers to check for any pieces of hard cartilage and cut them out also. Be careful not to disconnect the skin while you do all this.
Cut the chicken thighs into two pieces between the thick half and the thin half. This will let you cook the thicker half longer. Do this with the skin facing down to make sure the skin doesn’t come off the meat. If any pieces are really thick, you may want to flatten them a bit, but be very careful that you don’t take off the skin!
Dry the thighs with a paper town and then sprinkle a big pinch of kosher salt and a big pinch of cracked pepper (medium grind) on both sides. It’s going to look like lots of spice. Do the skin side second so that it facing up and stays dry while the chicken is resting and coming to temperature.
Now bring the flame up to high until the oil smokes. Add the chicken skin side down using tongs. Tilt the pan as needed to create areas of oil to put each piece in. Leave space between the pieces so that they don’t effect each other. The temp of the pan will drop because of the chicken so leave the heat high for another minute, but then drop it down to medium. We want the skin to brown and that is best done slowly to avoid burning and to let the chicken cook through.
Once the skin is nice a crisp and medium brown - 10 minutes at most, flip the chicken over, ideally onto some oil. Now use your thermometer to cook it until each piece reaches 165 on the inside. Poke around to be sure the whole thing is 165. Note that the top of course will be cooling down. As each one is done (thin ones first) place them skin side up on a plate. Turn the heat down to low.
Let the chicken sit for 5 to 10 minutes and then turn each piece over onto a dry part of the board and cut into 2” squares or so. Do this skin side down so that you can use the knife to cleanly cut the skin. Turn them back over so the skin stays dry and put back on the plate.
Sofrito: subheading: Sofrito:
While the chicken is resting, chop the onion, bell pepper and garlic. And measure out the rice and paprika for easy use.
Bring the pan back up to medium-low and add the onion and bell pepper. Stir frequently and use the moisture from the onion to scrape up any chicken bits. We want to cook this for a good 10 minutes. Add the garlic 5 minutes into the process so that it is less likely to burn.
Sprinkle the paprika over the onions and stir it in constantly moving everything around for 2 minutes. We do not want to burn the paprika, so better safe than sorry on the heat level.
Add the tomato and mix it in with everything else and stir that constantly for 1 minute. It will start to dry out and we don’t want it to burn either.
Stock: subheading: Stock:
Turn the stock heat to high so that it is boiling by the time the Rice has toasted below. Keep it covered so you don’t loose volume.
Rice: subheading: Rice:
Add the rice to the pan, but before you mix it in, pour some tasty olive oil directly on the rice. Perhaps a total of 5 tablespoons.
Now stir everything up and once it is mixed, spread it out across the pan so that the bottom toasts a bit. After 30 seconds mix it up and again and repeat. Maybe one more time if the stock isn’t ready.
Now turn down the heat so that the stock doesn’t boil everywhere when you add it.
And then add the stock and turn the heat back to high to start bringing it back to a boil. Remove the rosemary first, btw.
Use a wisk to stir the rice all around in the pan. The goal is to evenly spread out the rice.
Once the rice is even, drop the chorizo pieces all around the rice. It will drop to the bottom.
Now we are waiting for a full boil. Not sure boiling where the flame hits the pan but so that there are bubbles edge to edge.
Once that happens (3 to 5 minutes) turn the heat to medium-low. The goal is to slowly cook the rice over the next 15 to 20 minutes. Adjust the heat so that you see some bubbles everywhere but the pan isn’t losing tons of steam.
Toppings: subheading: Toppings:
When there are about 10 minutes left, place the chicken about the pan with each piece resting near the bottom of the pan but with the skin above it. Wiggle it down into the rice gently. The goal is the have the bottom close to the bottom so it gets super tasty and the top above the water so the skin stays crispy.
Do the same thing with the green beans. Don’t mess with the rice but try to slip them under the water level as much as possible.
Scatter the piquillo pieces about the pan on top of the rice.
Socarrat: subheading: Socarrat:
Once the stock is gone, the sound from the pan will change as the bubbling is mostly from oil. There will still be some moisture coming out, but a change is afoot.
Try a piece of rice from the top of the dish (cooks the least) and if it is chalky cover the whole pan with a towel and cook a bit longer on low heat.
Take a small spoon and scrape the bottom of the pan near where the flame hits the pan. The goal is to get a sense of what’s down there. Moisture? Nothing interesting? Sticky rice? Carbon?
Ideally it will be slightly sticky rice. If you get carbon already you might not get a good crust without burning it.
Now, turn up the heat to medium-high and we are going to crisp the bottom of the pan. We want a bit of carbon attached to some half crunchy half sticky rice. Keep the heat on for 3 to 5 minutes smelling all the while.
The moment you smell burning, kill the heat.
Test the bottom of the pan again and see if you have carbon in the hottest places. The edge will likely never get crusty, and the middle might be slow too.
The goal is a nice gradient from slightly gooey on the outside, slightly burned in the middle and slightly gooey on the inside.
Rest: subheading: Rest:
Once you have some crust. Turn off the heat and cover the entire pan with a big cloth. We are going to let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. The crust will firm up, the toppings will get a bit of warmth.
While resting, cut a lemon into wedges.
Eat: subheading: Eat:
Put the paella in the middle of the table.
Give each person a spoon.
Mentally divide the pan into sections, like pizza slices.
Squeeze some lemon onto part of your section.
Use the edge of the spoon to scrape up some socarrat in each bite.

Pan: This recipe is for a 16” (outer diameter) paella pan cooked on a stove stop. Given there is only one burner, it helps to have a pan that has a thick bottom, such as one made for induction stoves.  Pan: This recipe is for a 16” (outer diameter) paella pan cooked on a stove stop. Given there is only one burner, it helps to have a pan that has a thick bottom, such as one made for induction stoves.