We can’t afford saffron, hence this is..saffronless. Have fun cooking the rice on a stovetop!
Serves 5-6 people
- 2 chicken thigh/breast, skinned and deboned
- 12-15 mussels, soaked in salt water and scrubbed
- 250 g prawns
- 2 large tomato, diced
- 2 cup japonica rice (or jasmine white rice)
- 5 cups fish/dashi stock
- Some spring onions and corriander, chopped thinly (for garnish)
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, cup into 8 wedges
- Ensure that the mussels are well cleaned, remove any mussels which are opened after soaking in the salt water.
- The shrimp can be shelled and deveined or left intact with just the legs and feelers trimmed.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and fry the prawnsfor about 2 minutes. Remove the prawns onto a plate. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the mussels into the pan with ¼ cup of water. Cover the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, till the mussels are open. Transfer the mussels and all the juices onto the plate with the prawns.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry the tomato (and a pinch of saffron at this point if using any) for 1 minute.
- Stir in the rice, chicken and the boiling hot stock.
- Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, then return the shrimps and juices to the pan and cook till the rice is just tender. Add more stock/water if the pan is dry before the rice softens to the desired texture.
- Press each mussel into the rice, remove the pan from heat and cover with aluminium foil for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with the lemon and coriander.
The chicken can be replaced with squid rings for a seafood version.
Acknowledgment: This recipe is adapted from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible. 
The saffron version has been tried and investing about $12 on 1 g of saffron (which is enough saffron for about 10 of this recipe) is totally worth it.