Sharing the secrets of
Paella
To make the world-famous dish,
you’ll need a few little-known tricks…
Rice for Paella
A Delicious Story
What Rice do I use to Make Paella?
The famous rice dish orignating in the Valencian region of Spain.
Valencia, Spain
Firstly, let's talk about rice...
If you’re reading this, chances are that up till now you may not have dwelled too deeply on the subject of rice, so there’s probably a little bit more to it than you may imagine. It is not simply a monolthic, uniform commodity. But don’t despair, you will still probably know a bit more about it than I once did. It turns out correct way to classfiy varieties of rice is not ‘boiled’, ‘steamed’ or ‘fried’…
There are actually 10’s of thousands of different varieties of rice. The crop is grown in over 100 countries and is a staple food of many different cultures and over half the worlds population. It can be cooked a myriad of different ways and can be used as either an accompaniment or garnish, as well as the pricipal part of a dish.
It is eaten together with everything from raw fish, as in sushi, sweet foods, as in many asian desserts, spicy ingredients, as in curries, and with vegetables, seafood, shellfish, rabbit and chicken in paella. Some varieties of rice tend to stick together. In other varieties, individual grains tend to stay apart. Some absorb more water than others. Some cook fast, some cook slow, there’s differing levels of starch content…
By now you may be starting to see my point. Even if your just mucking around in the kitchen, using just any old rice can have a big effect on the outcome. So, if you’re as serious as a Valencian about your paella, well, using just any old rice is simply unforgivable…
Now, let's talk about paella
The name? Paella actually means ‘pan’ in the Valencian language. Over time the name got transferred to the dish as well. In the rest of Spain the pan in which paella is cooked is called a ‘paellera’.
Whilst it may seem a simple dish, paella can actually be quite complex. And being the star of the show, rice is its most important ingredient.
The rice in paella in not an accompaniment or side. It is the protagonist of the dish, absorbing all the stock and flavours of the other ingredients. The correct variety of rice allows the whole paella to sing, with the other ingredients playing their part as supporting acts.
What is paella rice?
If you’re talking about the name of the dish, we’ve already established that it’s simply called ‘paella’, not ‘paella rice’.
If you’re talking about the variety of rice typically used in cooking paella, there’s no variety called ‘paella rice’, but there are varieties that are more suitable than others.
They tend to be short and short-medium grained varieties that are low in starch and absorb large amounts of liquid when cooked.
What's the best rice to use when making paella then?
In short (pun intended), shorter grained varieties are best for paella. Brown rice and long grain rice absorb less water and are therefore less suitable. Amongst the varieties typically used in Spain are:
J. Sendra
Considered the best for paella. This variety is reknowed for absorbing lots of flavour. Slightly glutinous and requires careful monitoring of cooking time to ensure it is not overdone.
Bahia
Similar to J. Sendra but with a slightly longer cooking time.
Senia
Slightly less favoured due to less flavour absorbtion
Bomba
Doesn’t absorb flavours quite as well, slightly firmer than other varieties, but is very forgiving in terms of cooking time. Hard to go wrong.
What about other varieties?
Other varieties of rice have thier own uses that they are suited to. For example:
Glutinous rice – Used in Asian cuisine and desserts. A high starch content causes it to tend to stick together.
Basmati rice – An aromatic long grained rice, used in asian cuisines, thin, grains remain separate.
Jasmine rice – Long grained variety that has own strong flavour and aroma. Like basmati, typically used as accompaniment.
Can I use Arborio rice?
With paella, the aim is for the rice and grains to remain somewhat dry, separate and intact, so it is best to avoid arborio rice if possible.
Arborio rice is used in risottos to give the dish their characteristic creaminess. It has just the right amount of starch to create risottos’ famous creamy texture.
The constant stiring of a rissotto gradually release the starch into the water, giving it thickness and volume and the desired creaminess.
Higher starch level varieties cause individual rice grains to disintegrate and clump together, useful for example when you want to make risotto or mochi, but not so much in other rice dishes.
Lower stach levels and longer grains would mean the individual rice gains stay separate and result in a ‘thin’, non-creamy risotto. Something that, as a result, wouldn’t actually be a risotto at all…
Now, where were we? oh, that’s right, back to the paella…
The short answer, I just want the short answer...
The quickest, simplest answer to the question ‘what rice do I use in paella?’ is bomba rice. If you’re unsure which rice you should use when making paella, use bomba rice. Tastes great, hard to go wrong.
Where to find rice for paella?