Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 ñora pepper, stalk and seeds removed, coarsely crumbled
- 13/4 cup Bonito stock
- 1 bonito or tuna fillet, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter
- 5 oz Ibérico ham, cut into long, thin strips
- oil for drying, preferably grapeseed or sunflower oil
- 1 whole bok choy, leaves and steam cut into thin strips
- 31/2 spring onion, white parts cut into thin strips, and green sliced for garnish
- 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup hon tsuyu sauce
- 1/2 tsp Spanish sweet smoked paprika
- 1/4 oz dashi powder
- salt
Directions
*For an extra fine texture, use at 41-cm (16-inch) paella pan suitable for us on the stove and in the oven.
Heat the olive oil in a pan over low heat, add the garlic and ñora pepper and sauté for a few minutes until the garlic is pale and golden brown. Put the garlic and the ñora pepper into a mortar and pound to a paste using a pestle. Set aside.
Heat the Bonito Stock but do not allow it to boil. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2.
Wrap the strips of Ibérico ham tightly around the bonito fillet, secure and set aside. Heat the oil for deep-frying to 180/350F, or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Add the strips of bok choy leaves and deep-fry briefly until crisp. Take them out of the oil and drain on paper towels.
Heat the sesame oil in the paella pan over low heat and sauté the prepared bonito fillet for a few minutes until browned all over. Take the bonito out of the pan and set aside on a plate, covered with aluminum foil. Add the vegetables to the paella pan and sauté over moderate heat for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and the ñora pepper paste, pour in the rice vinegar and deglaze the bottom of the pan by scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula. Allow to cook for several minutes until all the liquid has evaporated.
Add the rice and cook over low heat for a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spatula, until thoroughly coated and translucent; do not allow the rice to burn. Add the hon tsuyu sauce mix well and deglaze the bottom of the pan again, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan with the wooden spatula.
Add the paprika, stir through and cook over moderate heat for a few seconds, taking care that it does not burn. Pour in the hot Bonito Stock, stir and bring to a boil. Add the dashi powder. If you have a timer, set it to 17 minutes. Cook over moderate heat and season with salt, if necessary, bearing in mind that the flavors will become more pronounced as the liquid evaporates. Put the paella in the preheated oven for 9 minutes. Remove the paella from the oven and place the ham-wrapped bonito on the rice. Put the paella back in the oven for a further 3 minutes.
Remove the paella from the oven again and allow it to rest for 3 minutes. Sprinkle the paella with the fried bok choy leaves and green onion rings. Cut the bonito roll into slices about 7mm (¼ inch) thick. Please a few of these slices on each plate. Serve.
Recipe from Paella by Alberto Herraiz/Phaidon, 2011.
