A chicken paella with adobo flavor in every grain and a crispy bottom that’s basically tutong.
If you can toast rice, pour in stock, and leave it alone, you can make paella. The flavor part is up to you, so I started with adobo.
The soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, and pepper go straight into the rice instead of on the side, so you get adobo in every bite. The bit of brown sugar helps with the socarrat, the crispy, caramelized layer at the bottom of the pan. It's basically tutong. Because of the soy and sugar, it browns faster than a regular paella would, so listen for the crackle and trust your nose.
I went with Arborio because bomba is hard to find here. It's starchier, so rinse it a few times and drain it really well, or it'll turn out creamy like risotto. Toasting it in the chicken fat first dries the grains out a bit and adds flavor, and it helps the rice hold its shape once the stock goes in.
There are two kinds of chicken in here. The thighs go into a cold pan skin-side down so the fat renders out slowly and the skin crisps up. The bite-sized pieces make sure every scoop has some chicken. You cook it covered first so the rice steams evenly, then uncovered so the liquid cooks off and the bottom can crisp.
Top it with roasted garlic mayo, which is creamy against all that salty, sour rice (and adobo can always use more garlic), and calamansi instead of lemon. You don't need a paella pan; a 12-inch pan works. Just bring the whole pan to the table.
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