Thai Green Curry Mussels
Servings
2Serving size
1/2 pound mussels in the shell with sauceThis recipe serves 2 as an appetizer. This dish is great served with steamed rice or grilled bread for easy dinner to soak up the lovely broth. Once cooked, mussels should be eaten immediately.
Ingredients
| 1/4 cup Coriander (cilantro) leaves, raw (stems and leaves separated, roughly chopped) |
| 2 clove Garlic, raw (finely minced, divided) |
| 1/2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes |
| 1/2 tsp. coriander seed |
| 1 tsp. Lime zest |
| 1/8 tsp. Salt |
| 1 Medium Shallots, raw (divided, finely minced) |
| 1 Tbsp. Canola oil |
| 1 1/2 tsp. Ginger root, raw (grated) |
| 1 1/2 tsp. Thai Green Curry |
| 1/2 can Lite Coconut Milk |
| 1 tsp. packed Light brown sugar |
| 3/4 tsp. Fish sauce |
| 1 lbs. (in shell) Fresh mussels (scrubbed and beards removed) |
| 1/2 pepper Peppers, serrano, raw (optional) (or Thai Chile) (thinly sliced) |
| 1 lime yields Lime juice, raw |
| 1 fruit (2 inch dia) Limes, raw (cut into wedges) |
Instructions
Place the cilantro stems, 1/2 of the garlic, 1/2 of the shallot, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, lime zest, and the salt in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Grind until a smooth aromatic paste is formed. Set aside.
Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the oil and heat until simmering. Add remaining garlic, shallot, aromatic paste, ginger, and green curry paste to pan.
Cook for about 4 minutes, or until very aromatic, while stirring frequently, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pan to avoid burning.
Add the coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce.
Bring to a simmer and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add scrubbed and debearded mussels to the pan. Stir and cover tightly.
Shake the pan vigorously every 30 seconds or so to stir while cooking. Cook mussels for 3 - 4 minutes or until mussels open.
Discard any unopened mussels.
Pour into serving bowl. Top with lime juice. Garnish with cilantro leaves, sliced pepper, and lime wedges.
Serve.
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Special Diet Information
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Lactose
This recipe is safe for those who are lactose intolerant.
Recipe Notes
Mussels should be kept in the refrigerator until ready to cook. Do not seal them into a plastic bag as they need to breathe. Discard any mussels that do not close after having their shells tapped (may take a minute or two). These are dead and not safe to serve. Clean mussels by pulling fuzzy beards from shell.
It used to be that one needed to clean mussels by soaking in cold water. You may see some recommendations to use salted water or even water that contains flour. This was true before mussels were widely farmed because they often contained grit that needed to be expelled from the shell before cooking. However, mussels are now well cleaned and purged of grit and simply scrubbing them is generally enough. Here are a couple of references:
fisheries.noaa.gov
seafoodnutrition.org
"People are like mussels. You can put them in a vat of boiling water, and some of them will pop open immediately. Some of them will have to float around in the water for a bit, then they’ll slowly release. Others never open up at all, no matter what sort of hot water they’re in."
Rhian J. Martin, A Different FamiliarEquipment
- 1 Spice Grinder (or mortar and pestle)
- 1 Pan, Sauté, Stainless Steel, 8 in
- 1 Spatula, Silicone, High Temperature, 10″
- 1 Metal Spoon, Solid
- 1 Knife, paring