Preparing Spanish Cuisine at Tapella
Last May 16th, I got the chance to see Chef Xandra of Tapella prepare their bestsellers: Paella Manchego, which is her own original recipe, an appetizer Cojonudos, and Sangria.
The Paella Manchego (Php550.)
- A good paella is determined by how tasty the rice is. From the term paella, it’s about cooking rice in a pan, where the Catalan word paella is derived. For Chef Xandra, the rice need not be the sticky kind. Jasmin rice or the regular rice is just perfect.
- Consistency is important. Chef Xandra said that if you are cooking chicken paella, then you use chicken stock and just garnish it with chicken meat and vegetables. If you prefer seafood paella, then you use seafood broth. She is not sold to the idea of mixing all sorts of seafood into the rice to make a paella because the flavor will not be as distinct.
- For this Paella Manchego, two special ingredients are added: manchego cheese and saffron. Both are sourced from Spain. The manchego cheese is made of milk from Manchega sheep.
- The Ingredients:
Ingredients:
50gms. olive oil
75gms. chicken breast
50gms. onions
50gms. garlic
80gms. calrose rice
30gms. broccoli
70gms. prawns
30gms. asparagus
20gms. Manchego cheese
.5gms. paella seasoning and chicken broth
Procedure:
Heat the oil in a paella pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a dish. Add the onion and garlic to the paella pan, and cook for 2 minutes. Add shrimp,cooked chicken and paella rice,paella seasoning, salt and pepper and chicken broth put the heat to medium, cover, and cook for a further 20 minutes.
Mix in the asparagus. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the chicken and rice are tender and the broth has been absorbed.Remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle with the Manchego cheese, and serve.
Cojonudos, Paella, restaurants, Sangria, Spanish Cuisine, Tapella Restaurant | Comments
