Asian Style Mussels Recipes

JAPANESE DYNAMITE MUSSELS

Steps:

• Rinse the mussels under cold water. Remove meat from its shell and roughly chop.
• Mix the meat in a bowl with Kewpie, sriracha, soy sauce, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of masago and scallions (reserve a bit of massago and scallions for garnish)
• Spoon the mixture back into the shells.
• Line a baking tray with foil and place the mussels on the tray.
• Broil at 450 degrees (a toaster oven works great for this) for about 10 minutes, until the tops are golden.
• Garnish with masago and scallions.

STEAMED MUSSELS, ASIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Put the oil in a saucepan large enough to hold all the mussels and turn the heat to medium. A minute later, add the scallion, ginger, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute.
• Add the mussels, turn the heat to high, and cover the pot. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until they all (or nearly all) open, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
• Scoop the mussels into a serving bowl. Add the soy sauce to the liquid, then pass it through a fine strainer (or a coarse one lined with cheesecloth). Pour the liquid over the mussels and serve.
• Variations
• Curried Steamed Mussels: Substitute butter for the oil. Substitute shallot for the scallion and omit the ginger and garlic. When the shallot is soft, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon curry powder and cook, stirring, for another 30 seconds. Cook and finish as directed, substituting the juice of 1 lime for the soy sauce.
• Thai Steamed Mussels: Use peanut oil. Add 1 lemongrass stalk, roughly chopped; 1 small dried hot red chile; and 2 lime leaves to the scallion, ginger, and garlic. Substitute nam pla (fish sauce) for the soy sauce.
• Steamed Clams with Soy: Most mussel recipes will work for steamers, which are also known as soft-shell clams. But steamers must be rinsed after shucking to remove all traces of sand, and you don't want to dilute these delicious broths by dipping clams into them one after the other. The solution is to substitute littlenecks-small hardshell clams, the kind served on the half shell and used for pasta with clam sauce-for the mussels. These contain no sand at all, but because their shells are heavier, use 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of littlenecks to replace each pound of mussels. Proceed exactly as directed.
• Mussels
• Every year, we see more and more cultivated mussels, most often from Prince Edward Island, which is fast becoming the mussel farming capital of North America. These are easy to clean (almost clean enough to eat without washing, but still worth a quick going over), with very few rejects and plump meat. Wild mussels are far tastier but harder to clean. When cleaning mussels, discard any with broken shells. If the mussels have beards-the hairy vegetative growth that is attached to the shell-trim them off. Those mussels that remain closed after the majority have been steamed open can be pried open with a knife (a butter knife works fine) at the table.

THAI STEAMED MUSSELS

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, combine the lime juice, coconut milk, wine, curry paste, garlic, fish sauce and sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar and curry paste and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 2 minutes then add mussels. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mussels are opened, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and discard any unopened mussels. Pour mussels and liquid into a serving dish and toss with cilantro.

ASIAN-STYLE MUSSELS

Steps:

• Heat the oil a large skillet, with a lid, over medium heat. Add the shallots, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and chili, and stir-fry until golden and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Add the water, fish sauce, and sugar, stir and bring to a simmer. Add the mussels, cover and steam until they open and plump slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Discard any mussels that do not open. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro, and mint leaves. Divide the mussels and broth evenly among the bowls. Serve.