Mussels in coconut and chilli sauce
SUPPER is defined in some English dialects as “dinner eaten at night” or as “a drinker – one who sups.”
What an appropriate word it is; weekends at The Supper Club begin on Thursday nights at 9.30pm.
It’s your chance to get “up close and personal” at The Grill On The Alley with a great mix of acoustic blues, soul and rock.
Our full menu is available and from it, this wonderfully fragrant dish is one of the Supper Club’s most popular.
There are a few things to take note of when buying the ingredients for this recipe.
irstly, try to buy “Rope Grown” mussels as they tend to be cleaner and better quality.
Secondly, there are lots of different kinds of tinned coconut milk available in supermarkets. Try to find the best quality brands – these should be quite solid and so should not sound watery when the can is shaken.
This recipe uses banana shallots instead of the normal variety as they are slightly easier to peel and have a delicate sweetness that really adds to the dish.
As with all seafood, take care to ensure your ingredients are fresh, throw away any with broken shells and use the back of a knife to scrape them clean. Pull out and discard any “beards” and remove any grit or mud by washing several times in cold water.
Before cooking discard any mussels that remain open when tapped and any that remain closed after cooking.
To serve, sprinkle each bowl of mussels with the picked coriander leaves: warm focaccia bread is great for soaking up the delicious sauce.
The Supper Club, at The Grill On The Alley, is on Thursdays from 9.30pm, Fridays from 10pm and Saturdays from 10.30pm.
Ingredients (for four)
1kg fresh mussels
Coconut milk. 1x400g tin
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
400g double cream
2 banana shallots. Medium sized, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
20g ginger, finely chopped
2dsp rice wine vinegar
4 heads of pak choi
100g picked coriander leaves
200g baby spinach
200ml white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Ensure mussels are thoroughly cleaned then place in a bowl with the shallots, white wine, ginger and garlic.
Empty the contents of the bowl into a hot pan, place a lid on top and shake the pan – holding the lid securely – two or three times during cooking. The mussels are ready when they have just opened. Add the cream and the coconut cream to the mussels, cook for a further minute shaking once or twice, as before.
Just before serving, when the cream has combined with the stock in the pan, add the rice vinegar, chilli, pak choi, most of the coriander and the spinach. Shake the pan, holding the lid, until the spinach has wilted.
Remove from the heat, divide evenly between the serving bowls and sprinkle liberally with the remaining coriander.
Published: Thu, 26 March, 2009
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