Norwegian Blue Mussels in Thai Coconut Broth

5 minutes to prep, 5 minutes to cook and instant gratification!

What you need:

1 kg Norwegian blue mussels (pre-order from MM Fresh)

400ml coconut milk

Tablespoon of coconut oil

Tablespoon of brown sugar

1 lime

White crusty bread. Mango Menus loves that fromBreadboxHK.

Thai paste ingredients: knob of peeled ginger, knob of peeled galangal, 2 chopped shallots, 2 chopped red chillis, 2 chopped cloves of garlic, few black peppercorns, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, juice of 1 lime, 3 coriander roots, 1 Kaffir lime leaf

Method

Whizz the Thai paste ingredients in the food processor until it forms a paste.

Spend some time cleaning up the mussels. First scrub them with a new abrasive sponge (I find the rough green bit of a green & yellow one to be ideal - but discard after for godssake or you could make someone really quite ill!) to remove the muddy looking bits then trim the beards (hairy/grassy bits) with scissors. Wash under the tap and knock them firmly on the kitchen work top. If they open, or are already open/cracked, DISCARD. 

Heat your oil in a large pan, they fry the paste for a couple of minutes. Add the mussels, coconut milk and sugar. Mix well so that the mussels are coated in milk and paste. Put the lid on and keep on a medium heat while the milk simmers, for a few minutes, or until the the shells open. Remove from the heat and ladel into large noodle bowls, with a squeeze of lime and lots of freshly chopped coriander on top. Dip hunks of warm crusty bread into the broth and breathe...

Serves  2 hungry tai tais