Casa Carmela Paella Valenciana is the real Valencia deal: thin rice, chicken, rabbit, duck, snails, green beans, garrofón beans and smoky wood-fired flavor. No seafood, no chorizo, no giant mountain of rice. This is paella with its shirt tucked in.
Photo by SCRR
Copycat Casa Carmela Paella Valenciana
Casa Carmela Paella Valenciana is a traditional Valencian rice dish from Casa Carmela in Valencia, Spain. The restaurant’s menu lists its Paella Valenciana as chicken, rabbit, duck, snails and vegetables, and notes that its paellas are cooked over wood fire. Casa Carmela also states that it uses orange wood, local ingredients and a thin layer of rice to create the smoky firewood flavor that defines its paella.
The secret is restraint. Real Paella Valenciana is not a seafood parade, and it is not a rice casserole. Brown the meats well, simmer them with the vegetables to build flavor, add the rice in a thin layer and then leave it alone. Stirring paella after the rice goes in is how you turn dinner into risotto with an identity crisis.
Quick Recipe Overview
- Best For: Spanish dinners, special occasions, outdoor cooking, rice lovers, and traditional paella fans.
- Flavor Profile: Savory, smoky, meaty, herbal, lightly earthy, and saffron-scented.
- Skill Level: Moderate to advanced.
- What Makes It Like the Restaurant: Chicken, rabbit, duck, snails, green beans, garrofón beans, saffron, thin rice, and smoky cooking recreate the Casa Carmela Paella Valenciana style.
Casa Carmela
Casa Carmela began in 1922 as a humble beachside shack on Valencia’s Malvarrosa beach, named for Carmen, the founder’s wife. The restaurant is still family-run across four generations and has become known for traditional Valencian cooking, especially paellas cooked over wood fire.
Casa Carmela says its wood-fired paellas are its specialty, and that Paella Valenciana must be booked in advance because of its long preparation time and limited daily production.
Thin Wood-Fired Rice with Chicken, Rabbit, Duck and Snails
Paella Valenciana is the original country-style paella of Valencia, not the seafood version many Americans picture first.
Casa Carmela’s menu version includes chicken, rabbit, duck, snails and vegetables, while the restaurant’s own description highlights local garrofó beans and ferradura green beans in its paellas.
The rice is cooked in a thin layer so the grains absorb the broth and develop socarrat, the prized toasted bottom crust. That is the good stuff, the part people politely fight over.
Casa Carmela Paella Valenciana Recipe
Casa Carmela Paella Valenciana is the real Valencia deal: thin rice, chicken, rabbit, duck, snails, green beans, garrofón beans and smoky wood-fired flavor. No seafood, no chorizo, no giant mountain of rice. This is paella with its shirt tucked in.
Yield: 6 Servings
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 pound Chicken Thighs bone-in, cut into small pieces
- 1 pound Rabbit cut into small pieces
- 1/2 pound Duck Legs or Duck Thighs cut into small pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Flat Green Beans or Romano Beans cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 cup Garrofón Beans or large Lima Beans cooked or thawed if frozen
- 1 large Tomato grated
- 1 teaspoon Sweet Spanish Paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon Saffron Threads crushed
- 8 cups Water plus more as needed
- 1 sprig fresh Rosemary
- 12 cooked Snails optional
- 2 1/2 cups Spanish Short-Grain Rice preferably Bomba, Calasparra or Valencia Rice
- Optional for Outdoor Cooking - 1 small piece Orange Wood or Fruit Wood for smoky flavor
Instructions
- Place a 15 to 17-inch paella pan over medium-high heat.
- Add olive oil.
- Season chicken, rabbit and duck with 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper.
- Add meats to pan in a single layer.
- Cook, turning occasionally, until deeply browned on all sides.
- Move browned meats toward edges of pan.
- Add green beans to center of pan.
- Cook until beans begin to blister and soften.
- Add garrofón beans and cook briefly.
- Add grated tomato to center of pan.
- Cook until tomato thickens and darkens slightly.
- Stir in sweet Spanish paprika and saffron.
- Immediately add water.
- Stir gently to loosen browned bits from bottom of pan.
- Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and rosemary sprig.
- Bring liquid to a strong simmer.
- Simmer 25 to 30 minutes, until meats are tender and liquid is well flavored.
- Remove rosemary sprig.
- Add snails if using.
- Taste liquid and adjust salt if needed.
- Sprinkle rice evenly across pan in a thin layer.
- Gently level rice with a spoon, but do not stir after this point.
- Cook over medium-high heat 8 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Cook 10 to 12 minutes, until rice is nearly tender and liquid is mostly absorbed.
- Increase heat to medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes to form socarrat on bottom of pan.
- Listen for a gentle crackling sound, but do not let rice burn.
- Remove pan from heat.
- Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel.
- Let paella rest 5 to 10 minutes.
- Serve directly from the pan with a wooden spoon if desired.
Related Copycat Recipes
- Bahama Breeze Seafood Paella – Tender seafood, seasoned rice, and bright island flavors create a hearty dish packed with coastal comfort.
- Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad – Crispy chicken, crunchy greens, and sweet-tangy dressing in one big bowl
- Max & Erma’s Chicken Tortilla Soup – Classic restaurant soup that eats like a full meal in a bowl
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Questions People Ask
Does Casa Carmela serve Paella Valenciana?
Yes. Casa Carmela lists Paella Valenciana with chicken, rabbit, duck, snails and vegetables.
Does Paella Valenciana have seafood?
No. Traditional Paella Valenciana is meat, beans, vegetables and rice, not seafood.
What are garrofón beans?
Garrofón are large flat white beans used in Valencian paella. Large lima beans are the easiest substitute in the United States.
Do I need snails?
Snails are part of the traditional Casa Carmela-style build, but they can be left out if unavailable.
Can I make this indoors?
Yes. A wide paella pan over the stovetop works, though outdoor cooking gives the closest smoky flavor.
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Photo of “Casa Carmela Paella Valenciana” created by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes. Photos may be representative of the recipe and not the actual finished dish. All photo licenses listed were correct at the time of the posting of the page. Recipe is original to Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes. Recipe created by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes based on information from the restaurant and other sources on the internet – many courtesy of the Wayback Machine. Additional Information is from original research done by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes and/or courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission.
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