Thai coconut mussels
Mussels are delicious and all, but if I’m being honest, the real highlight of a mussel dish is the part when you get to dunk crispy fresh bread into a buttery flavourful broth. I’ve tried many variations of broths because I’m just all about that dunk, but lately I’m loving this Asian aromatic twist on a French classic. With just a few staple ingredients, you can turn this dish that we’ve all had before into a really unique, flavoursome, make-your-mouth-burn (in a good way) knockout.
Note, I invented this dish during isolation, and obviously you can’t always find the exact ingredients you want! Below I’m giving the recipe for my favourite version, but I’ve made the dish with light coconut milk in place of regular, with parsley instead of cilantro, and even just eliminating the lemongrass altogether, and it was delicious every time. We’ve got to be flexible in these times, and the good news is that this recipe is flexible right there with ya. Enjoy!
Thai coconut mussels
Total time: 30 minutes
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients
1-1.5kg fresh mussels, rinsed and debearded
1 tbsp butter
4 shallots, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced, grated or smashed
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
1 stalk lemongrass
1 cup beer (something light, like a Lager)
1-2 Thai chilies
2 limes
1 can of regular Coconut milk
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp fish sauce
Salt n' pep
1 handful cilantro
Toasted fresh bread for dunking
Instructions
- Heat butter in deep pan or pot (must have a lid) over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Cut off the spikey top and base of the lemongrass, peel the tough outer layer, and using the dull side of your knife, smash or “bruise” the lemongrass stalk to release it’s fragrance. Cut the stalk in two shorter pieces, and add the lemongrass, ginger, chopped chilies (start easy, you can always add more later). Pour in the beer, and bring to a simmer until the broth is fragrant and the liquid reduces, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, honey, and fish sauce to the broth. Add the mussels, and stir them around to coat them in the broth. Cover the pan or pot for 4 minutes to allow the mussels to steam. Remove the lid once the mussels have opened up. Discard any mussels that did not open. Add a handful of chopped cilantro and the juice of one lime. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning as required.
- Serve with more cilantro and chilies over the top and alongside some toasted crispy fresh bread (that sourdough you’ve been working on in isolation goes great with this). Get dunkin’!
