Thai Coconut Mussels

I am excited to announce that I will be a Perfect Protein Blogger for the summer, to help promote a book called The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lovers Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World. Written by Andy Sharpless, the CEO of Oceana, and Suzannah Evans, the book discusses how protecting, maintaining, and consuming wild seafood can help to fight both famine and obesity globally.

I am only a few chapters in to the book and already find it fascinating. The general idea behind the book is to try to eat seafood, but to try to eat WLLS: Wild, Local, Little, and Shellfish. Many supermarkets, such as Whole Foods, label their seafood which makes sticking to these more sustainable choices a cinch. But even without the labels, you can still find sustainable options at your local grocer.

As a food blogger, I immediately went to the back of the book, where there are 21 sustainable seafood recipes from some of the nation’s top chefs. They all sounded delicious, but I decided to start off my Perfect Protein posts with a recipe that is simple but packs a ton of flavor into the dish: Sam Talbot‘s Thai Coconut Mussels. I love making mussels because they cook up so quickly. This recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. (For another take on mussels, check out my recipe for Mussels in White Wine Garlic Sauce)

I altered the recipe a bit to make it into a meal for 2 instead of an appetizer. I also subbed in some ingredients for what I could find. All of these ingredients can be found in Whole Foods.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemongrass
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut
• 1 pound mussels, debearded, scrubbed well, and washed clean
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sambal (chile-garlic paste)
• 1 can coconut milk, divided (13.66 oz)
• 2 tablespoons torn cilantro leaves, stems discarded
• 2 tablespoons torn mint leaves, stems discarded
• juice and zest of 2 limes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup white rice, preferably jasmine rice

I used a rice cooker to make my rice, but you can easily make the rice on your stove. Measure out 3/4 cup coconut milk and set aside. Add the rest of the coconut milk (about 1 cup) to a small pot and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 cup rice, stirring to combine. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until the milk is mostly absorbed, about 15 minutes.

While waiting for the rice to cook, add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the ginger, garlic, shallot and lemongrass. (I kept the lemongrass in large pieces so I could remove it at the end. If you prefer, you can finely chop it to keep it in the dish.)  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until fragrant.

Add the unsweetened coconut and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. You want to see the shallot turning translucent.

Add the mussels and wine to the pot and increase your heat to medium-high, cooking for 1 minute.

Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, and chile-garlic paste. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the reserved 3/4 cup of coconut milk.

Add the lid to the pot and steam the mussels for 2 to 4 minutes, shaking the pot a bit to help open the mussels. Discard any of the mussels that do not open after 4 minutes. Spoon the remaining mussels into a bowl and remove the lemongrass. Season the broth with salt and pepper and ladle over the mussels. In a small bowl, stir together the lime juice, lime zest, mint, and cilantro.

Top the mussels with the lime and herb mixture. Serve over the coconut rice.

My boyfriend and I could not get enough of this meal. The mussels are absolutely fantastic! We were looking for pieces of bread to sop up the coconut broth after we had ran out of rice, it’s that good.

I always feel so accomplished when a 30 minute meal comes out as delicious as this one did, despite just following directions. This one is definitely a keeper!

The broth is silky and super flavorful, but isn’t spicy. The lime-herb mixture cuts through some of the creaminess and gives it some much needed citrus. I loved the combination of mint and cilantro!