Paella, Spain's most famous dish is undoubtedly one of the world's great rice dishes. The first time I saw a traditional paella pan, I thought it was a particularly shallow flat-bottomed wok. That got me thinking about how a Chinese cook would prepare the same dish. The result is this East-West hybrid that works especially well in an electric wok.
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Ingredients
- 8 dried black mushrooms
- 12 medium-size raw shrimp
- 6 chicken drumsticks or 12 chicken wing drummettes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 12 live mussels scrubbed, beards removed, or 12 live manila clams, scrubbed
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 3/4 cups chicken broth approx.
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger minced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cups uncooked long-grain rice rinsed and drained
- 2 Chinese sausages cut into 1/4-inch thick diagonal slices, about 2 oz. each
- 1 small whole bamboo shoot cut lengthwise into thin wedges
- 12 snow peas ends and strings removed
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Soak mushrooms in warm water to cover until softened, about 30 minutes; drain. Remove and discard stems and slice caps in half. Set aside.
- Remove shrimp legs, leaving shells and tails intact. Cut along backs of shrimp with scissors; rinse out sand veins. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and five-spice powder. Set aside.
- Bring mussels and water to a boil in a 2-quart pan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until shells open, about 5 minutes. Discard mussels that don't open. Lift out mussels and set aside; pour liquid into a 4-cup measuring cup. Add enough chicken broth to make 4 cups of total liquid.
- Place a wok over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat sides. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 5 seconds. Add chicken and cook, turning as needed, for 10 minutes or until well browned on all sides. Add 2 tablespoons chicken broth. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside. Add onion and cook for 1 minute. Add bell pepper and turmeric; cook for 1 minute. Add rice, sausages and the reserved 4 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, until broth evaporates and crater-like holes appear, about 10 minutes.
- Arrange chicken, bamboo shoot and mushrooms over rice. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Push shrimp into top of rice and scatter snow peas on top. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Push mussels into rice. Cover and cook until rice is tender to the bite, about 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.
Recipe Notes
Recipe from A Wok For All Seasons, Publisher: Doubleday.
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Chef Yan has remained an active international food ambassador throughout his career. He roams the world representing different commercial and social concerns to entertain and educate the public, sharing with them his unique humor and strong passion for Chinese cooking.
Why does that Chinese sausage look raw? Cooked Chinese sausage wouldn’t have visible gobs of white fat.