Ingredients
| 1kg fresh mussels | |
| 50ml rice bran oil | |
| 1 knob ginger, peeled and chopped | |
| 1 shallot, chopped | |
| 2 tomatoes, diced and deseeded | |
| 3 bird’s eye chillies, sliced | |
| 2 bay leaves, dry or fresh | |
| 2 spring onions, chopped | |
| 250ml coconut vinegar | |
| SWEET PICKLED FENNEL | |
| 500ml fresh orange juice | |
| 1 teaspoon turmeric | |
| 1 teaspoon annatto seeds | |
| 1 bulb fennel, sliced (reserve 1 stalk for the green garlic sauce) | |
| GREEN GARLIC SAUCE | |
| 100g Chinese garlic chives, chopped | |
| 25g curly parsley, chopped | |
| 3 cloves garlic, minced | |
| 1 fennel stalk, chopped | |
| 1 star anise | |
| ¼ cup ice |
Served with FLOR DE MAGDA
View the recipe collection here
Instructions
| 1. | Put the mussels into a large bowl of cold water. |
| 2. | If any mussels remain open when tapped, discard them. |
| 3. | Drain well and pull away any beards (you can also do this after cooking the mussels). |
| 4. | Heat a heavy-based frying pan until you can see smoke rise slowly. |
| 5. | Pour in the oil, then immediately add the ginger, shallot and tomatoes. |
| 6. | When they are almost cooked, add the chillies, bay leaves and spring onions. Cook for about 2 minutes. |
| 7. | With the heat still high, add the mussels, cover, leave for a minute or two then shake the pan so they cook evenly. |
| 8. | Pour in the coconut vinegar, shake, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. |
| 9. | As soon as the mussels start to open, remove them and transfer to a bowl to cool a little. |
| 10. | Season the cooking liquid with salt, strain it into a container and let it fully cool down. |
| 11. | Remove the mussels from their shells and put into the container with the strained cooking liquid. |
| 12. | Put it in the fridge and let it chill completely. This can be done a day ahead. |
| 13. | SWEET PICKLED FENNEL |
| 14. | Put half the orange juice into the jug of a high-speed blender with the turmeric and annatto seeds and blend at medium speed. |
| 15. | Put into a small pot and bring to a slight simmer – this activates the annatto seeds which will give them more colour and a subtle earthy sweetness. |
| 16. | Strain the juice, add the rest of the orange juice and let it cool slightly. |
| 17. | Add the fennel, cover the container and leave it in the fridge until needed. |
| 18. | This is best done the day before so that the fennel absorbs the flavour and crisps up even more. |
| 19. | GREEN GARLIC SAUCE |
| 20. | Put the Chinese chives, parsley, garlic, fennel stalk and star anise into the jug of a high-speed blender. Slowly bring up to full speed. |
| 21. | Gradually add the ice to cool down the blender and help to blend the sauce smoothly. |
| 22. | Add more ice or water to adjust the consistency – you want to have a thick sauce that coats the back of a spoon. |
| 23. | Strain the sauce through a fine sieve if needed. Keep in the fridge to stay cool. |
| 24. | This is best made on the day to keep that fresh green garlic colour and flavour. |
| 25. | To serve, remove the mussels from the liquid and put onto a plate lined with a paper towel. Lightly season with salt. |
| 26. | Depending on how many mussels you are serving, remove the same amount of sliced fennel from the liquid and put onto a plate lined with a paper towel. |
| 27. | Transfer the mussels to a serving plate, ideally a plain white or earth-toned plate. |
| 28. | Spoon enough green garlic sauce over the mussels to cover them fully. |
| 29. | Put a fennel slice on top of each mussel. |
| 30. | This is meant to be eaten by itself but would work served with some taquitos or knäckebröd. |
| 31. | All the elements of this dish should last for at least 2-3 days in the fridge. |
Food by Carlo Buenaventura / Drinks by Matthew Venables / Photography Manja Wachsmuth
Leave a Reply