Steamed Mussels With Curry And Lemongrass Recipes

THAI RED CURRY MUSSELS

Steps:

• Heat grill to high. Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven on the grates of the grill until shimmering. Add the lemongrass, curry paste, wine, coconut milk, fish sauce, and lime juice and bring to a simmer, whisking. Add the mussels, cover the pot, and let steam until opened. During the last minute of cooking, add the cilantro and basil. Serve from Dutch oven into individual bowls, discarding the lemongrass.

SPICY COCONUT MUSSELS WITH LEMONGRASS

Steps:

• Heat the oil in the bottom of a large pot until hot. Add the shallot, garlic, lemongrass and chile. Cook over medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and mussels. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook until the mussels have opened, 5 to 7 minutes (discard any mussels that remained closed). Remove from heat, and use a slotted spoon to transfer the mussels to a large bowl, leaving the liquid in the pot. Stir the lemon zest and juice, fish sauce and cilantro into the pot. Taste and add more fish sauce and/or lemon juice if needed (fish sauce provides the salt).
• As the mussels cook, heat the broiler. Place the croissants, cut side up, on a small baking sheet. Run under the broiler until just golden. Put the mussels in two wide, shallow bowls. Ladle the broth over them and serve with the croissants.

STEAMED MUSSELS IN THAI CURRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring coconut milk to boil in heavy large saucepan. Reduce heat to medium; add curry paste and whisk until dissolved. Add next 6 ingredients. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Strain into bowl.
• Heat peanut oil in large deep skillet over high heat. Add mussels. Sauté 2 minutes. Add strained curry sauce. Cover and cook until mussels open, about 4 minutes (discard any mussels that do not open). Transfer to large serving bowl. Sprinkle with tomatoes and cilantro and serve.
• Available at Indian, Southeast Asian, and Latin American markets as well as many supermarkets.
• ** Available at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH CURRY AND LEMONGRASS

Steps:

• In a 5- to 6-quart heavy kettle bring wine and cream to a boil with garlic, shallot, lemongrass, and curry powder.
• Add mussels and cook, covered, over moderately high heat 4 to 6 minutes, or until opened, discarding any unopened ones and lemongrass.
• Using a slotted spoon divide mussels among 4 bowls.
• Add to liquid remaining in kettle scallion, butter, and salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter is incorporated, and spoon over mussels.

MUSSELS IN CURRY CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook shallots and garlic in simmering wine until translucent.
• Stir in cream and curry powder. When sauce is heated through, add mussels. Cover, and steam mussels for a few minutes, until their shells open wide. With a slotted spoon, transfer steamed mussels to a bowl, leaving the sauce in the pan. Discard any unopened mussels.
• Whisk butter into the cream sauce. Turn heat off, and stir in parsley and green onions. Serve immediately.

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.