In his new cookbook, The Simple Art of Rice, chef JJ Johnson shares a recipe for a giant seafood paella inspired by the one his grandmother used to make.
When James Beard award-winning chef JJ Johnson owner of the fast-casual restaurant Fieldtrip in Harlem, New York, was growing up, he had Sunday night dinners at his grandmother Bebe's house. Bebe loved to make paella for this weekly gathering, and Johnson loved to eat it. "For me, paella was just part of the culture," Johnson said.
In his new cookbook, The Simple Art of Rice (published this September), Johnson includes a recipe for paella inspired by the one Bebe used to make. This is one of dozens of recipes in the book that dive deep into rice around the world. "You can use so many different rice dishes to learn about culture and people," Johnson said.
Paella, the one-pan rice dish known for its crunchy texture and savory saffron flavour, originated in Valenica, Spain. "There are so many styles of paella, with a lot of regional variations and even variations within a region," said Danica Novgorodoff, Johnson's coauthor. "A traditional Valencian paella is made with meat, like rabbit, chicken and/or duck, while JJ's grandmother's paella contains exclusively seafood, which makes it more akin to a paella de marisco." Bebe's version, inflected with her own Puerto Rican flair, had clams on the bottom, shrimp on top and a squeeze of lime to finish.
This paella was foundational to Johnson's love of cooking, but it wasn't until culinary school that Johnson began to understand the influences of Spanish food on Puerto Rican culture – and, as a result, on his very own grandmother. "Caribbean food often marks a confluence of European, Indigenous and African culinary traditions dating back to the invasion and colonisation of the region by the Spanish beginning in the 16th Century," Novgorodoff said. "Rice was introduced to the Americas by Europeans, but it was cultivated by enslaved African farmers who had expertise in rice agriculture. A dish like paella might combine Spanish spices with available local ingredients and evolving cooking methods as it's adapted over the centuries, and as distinct cultures become entwined."
While Valencia is credited as the birthplace of paella, an even earlier version of the dish might have originated with the Moors, who are believed to have brought rice to Spain in the 8th Century. Later on, in the 18th Century, Spanish colonisers brought paella to Louisiana and, after, to Puerto Rico, where the dish became a culinary staple in its own right.
Johnson's paella, with its oversized presentation and medley of seafood on top, has a show-stopping effect. Although making the perfect paella takes skill and patience, Johnson said, "It's easier than you think." He keeps his version simple, emphasizing high-quality ingredients over fancy techniques.
All paella begins with the right rice and in this case, short-grain Spanish white rices, like Bomba (also known as Valencia), is the best, as well as the most traditional. Johnson specifically calls for using Bomba because the short, stout kernels have a high absorption rate, plumping with flavour as they soak up the stock. As the kernels cook, they expand and contract, preventing the grains from sticking together, which leads to a texturally perfect bite.
The second most important aspect to any paella is the stock; as the rice cooks, it absorbs the stock's flavour, so you want the stock itself to taste great. While you can make your own stock, Johnson's recipe simplifies this step by suggesting using a store-bought option: seafood stock, lobster stock or bottled clam juice.
"If you want to get really fancy, you could use one cup of seafood stock, one cup of lobster stock and two cups of clam juice," Johnson said. "But if I was to tell people to lean towards one way, I would tell them to use clam juice. It gives you that brininess of the ocean that I think every great paella has."
As for the seafood itself, Johnson likes to use a mixture of littleneck clams, mussels, prawns and lobster tails, but the recipe lends itself to personal preferences. "If you don't like mussels, put more clams. If you don't like clams, put more mussels. If you want to take out the shrimp [prawns], put in scallops," Johnson said. "You can start to play with it."
Although Johnson's grandmother made her paella in a cast-iron pan, for the best results, he advises home cooks to find a paella pan (a paellera) that fits on the stove top. These wide, double-handled pans are traditionally made of cast iron or carbon steel. The shallow shape maximizes surface area on the bottom of the pan, helping form the crispy crust known as a socarrat. The socarrat is the most prized part of any paella, as well as the mark of the paella maker's skill. But, Johnson assures, if you don't get the socarrat just right, the paella will still be delicious.
No paella is complete without a hint of acid. While typically garnished with lemon wedges, Johnson's grandmother served her paella with limes. That's the way he still eats it. "When the lime hits the seafood, it does something really magical for me," he said. Lemons offer a burst that's a bit less intense, and sometimes, Johnson will throw in both kinds of citrus for added zing.
This recipe brings a little bit of Johnson and a little bit of Bebe into people's kitchens. And at the end of the day, that love of cooking is what paella is all about. Johnson's main piece of advice when making this dish? "Cook this for people that you care about."
Seafood Paella recipe
By JJ Johnson
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large white onion, diced
1 red or green sweet bell pepper, diced
1½ tbsp minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
2 cups short-grain Spanish white rice, such as Bomba
kosher salt
1 tsp smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera)
4 cups seafood stock, bottled clam juice or lobster stock, warmed
¼ tsp saffron threads, crushed
400g (15oz can) diced fire-roasted tomatoes
170g (6oz jar) roasted red peppers, drained and sliced into strips
450g (1lb) very small littleneck or other small cockles/clams, scrubbed (see Note below)
450g (1lb) mussels, rinsed and beards removed
225g (½lb) large prawns, peeled and deveined
4 cooked lobster tails, shells removed and roughly chopped into chunks (optional)
Lemon and lime wedges, for servingMethod
Step 1
In a 15-inch paella pan, Dutch oven, or in a large, deep cast-iron frying pan, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic and sauté until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice, 1 tsp salt and the smoked paprika and cook, stirring, to slightly toast the rice, 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 2
In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil and stir the saffron into it. Into the rice mixture, stir the tomatoes, half the drained roasted red peppers and the stock, spreading the rice out evenly in the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook over medium heat, uncovered, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Do not stir the rice after this or it will turn gummy.
Step 3
If using smaller clams, working from the outside of the skillet in, arrange the mussels between the clams around the edge of the pan,and the rest in a ring inside them, followed by the prawns. Sprinkle the seafood with 1 tsp of salt. (If you are using larger littleneck clams/cockles, start by arranging them around the edge of the skillet, spacing them evenly. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or foil and cook for 2 minutes, then proceed with the remaining seafood as directed.)
Step 4
Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer (without stirring) for 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the clams and mussels have begun to open. Arrange the lobster, if desired, in the center of the pan, cover, and cook until the lobster is heated through and the clams and mussels are fully open, about 5 more minutes. Discard any clams or mussels that don't open. Turn off the heat and let the paella rest on the burner for 8 minutes to set it.
Step 5
Decorate the paella with the remaining sliced roasted red peppers and serve with lemon and lime wedges on the side.
Note
Littleneck clams will need a little more time to open than the mussels, so put them in the pan first. If you are using Manila clams or cockles, add them along with mussels. If your pan isn't wide enough to hold all the shellfish at once, you may need to cook some of the clams or mussels separately. Put them in a skillet with a little water over medium heat, and cover with a lid. When they are open, arrange them on top of the finished paella.
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