Chilli Mussels
Mussels steamed open in a hot tomato broth of chilli, garlic and ginger, finished with coriander and a squeeze of lime.
Photograph credit: Mussels by Charles Haynes · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Flickr · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
The Method for Chilli Mussels
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Scrub the mussels, pull off the beards and discard any that stay open when tapped.
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Heat the oil in a large pan with a lid. Cook the garlic, ginger and chillies for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and water and simmer for 5 minutes.
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Add the mussels, cover and steam for 5 minutes, shaking the pan, until the shells are open.
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Discard any that stay shut. Squeeze in the lime, stir in the coriander and serve in bowls.
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Things to Watch For
- Cut the chillies finer or deseed them for a milder dish.
- Do not salt until you have tasted the finished broth.
- Serve at once; the mussels toughen on standing.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the red chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
- Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
About This Recipe
Make the sauce first. Chilli mussels are a quick dish, but the broth needs a few minutes to come together before the shellfish go in, and they should only spend about five minutes in it. Tomatoes, garlic, ginger and fresh chilli are simmered until they break down and the kitchen smells of heat.
The mussels give their own liquor to the sauce as they open, so the broth gets richer and saltier in the pot. Because of that, taste before adding any salt, and add it only at the end. A splash of fish sauce can stand in for it.
Add the mussels all at once and cover the pan, so they steam evenly. Shake it two or three times and check after 5 minutes. Discard any that have not opened. Finish with lime juice and a handful of coriander, and serve straight from the pan with bread or rice to soak up the sauce.
To Go With It
Crusty bread · Steamed rice · Garlic bread · Cold lager
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Pikelets, Savoury Corn Muffins, Southland Cheese Rolls.
Keeping Chilli Mussels
Best eaten straight away. Do not store cooked mussels.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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