Firstly, sorry I haven’t had a chance to post lately. It has been a whirlwind of a year so far, and we seem to have been even more hectic than usual! Exciting times though! Anyhow, I’m back and have another cobbled together recipe to share with you.
With it being the eve of the hubby’s 34th birthday, as well as a Saturday night, I wanted to make something I know he’d love and something we don’t eat every week. Rustic and comforting, yet aromatic and spicy, these Asian inspired moules were perfect.
Firstly, remove the beards from the mussels by giving them a sharp tug. If you don’t know what the beard is I’ve posted a photo here:
Discard any mussels which are open. If they’re open it means they’re dead and risk being off, so chuck them. This one was open:
The de-bearding is the only time consuming part of this recipe I promise. Eventually you’ll be left with a bowl of clean mussels:
Now, gather together one or two chillis, a few cloves of garlic, fresh ginger, an onion, fresh coriander, 7 or 8 kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice to taste (I would’ve used lemongrass too, but didn’t have any in).
Slice the onion and soften in coconut oil (if you don’t have coconut, just use a tasteless oil such as vegetable or groundnut). I use coconut oil not only because it adds to the Asian flavour of this dish, but because of its amazing health benefits too. Once the onions are softened, add the chopped garlic, ginger and chilli. Once they have cooked out a bit add the coconut milk and throw in the lime leaves. Leave to simmer for a few minutes to let the flavours infuse.
Taste and season accordingly. At this stage mine needed a twist of black pepper, a good pinch of salt and about a desert spoon of lemon juice. Bring back to a simmer, add the mussels and put a lid on. Let them steam for about 4 minutes until they’ve opened.
Divide into bowls and throw over a handful of chopped coriander.
Serve with crusty bread to mop up those delicious juices! If you come across any closed moules once they’ve been steamed, don’t try to open them, just discard, as with the open ones when you were prepping them.
Teacups & Pearls 