Choosing a pan

If you are cooking directly over fire, a traditional steel paellera is best. It’s more responsive to temperature changes in the flames, but requires more careful cleaning and drying. For gas rings or stoves, carbon steel or enameled works well, and is easier to maintain. To cook for four to six people, get a 15″ pan. The large circumference allows the rice to cook through while a crispy socarrat forms on the bottom of the pan. Paella is an art, people: Listen to your ingredients, to your heat, to your pan, and you’ll get the best result.

Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Alyssa Sadler

Selecting your rice

Any rice you find that’s grown in Spain and labeled “paella rice” will work. It might be bomba, a short-grain rice that’s almost round (and widely available), or a handful of other varieties like Bahía or J. Sendra. (Don’t get the variety confused with the Protected Designation of Origin, the PDO, like Calasparra PDO, which simply means the rice comes from the municipality of Calasparra.) Paella rices expand to three times their size as they absorb the stock they’re cooking in, imbuing each grain with maximum flavor.

Water or stock?

Either one can deliver a great result. If you start with water, you’ll essentially be making your own stock in the pan as you cook. Stock—like the wood-fired ones made by El Paeller in Valencia—just gives you a head start on the process. Remember that your pan’s shape affects the cooking; the larger and flatter it is, the faster the liquid will evaporate.

Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Alyssa Sadler