Jambalaya - Cajun Rice with Shrimp and Chicken

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Fried onion

1. 1
   Season the chicken. Heat the oil in a pot and brown the chicken in it 5–6 minutes. Remove and set aside.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Heat the rest of the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStovePot
3. 3
   Add the onion and celery and fry about 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 4
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
5. 5
   Add the pepper and fry about 5 minutes, stirring, until it softens.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

To assemble

1. 6
   Add the rice and the cumin, paprika, oregano and cayenne pepper and stir 2 minutes, until all the grains are coated in fat.
2. 7
   Add the tomatoes and chicken soup, return the chicken to the pot and bring to a boil.

   Stove
3. 8
   Turn down to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Scatter the shrimp on top, cover again and cook another 5 minutes, until the shrimp are pink.

   ⚙ SimmeringStoveLid

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
4. 9
   Turn off the heat and leave covered 5–10 minutes.

   💡Don't open the lid during cooking: the steam is what cooks the top layer. A towel between the pot and the lid absorbs the drips, so the rice doesn't get soggy.
5. 10
   Gently stir in the parsley.
6. 11
   Gently fluff with a fork and serve.