Chilli and Red Turmeric Mussels with Wild Ginger, Minced Prawns & Green Peppercorns
This is a little wok full of all my favourite things, a perfect one to crack out on a sunny day in the garden with a bottle of wine. Using a wok is ideal for cooking mussels, as the bowl shape allows for all mussels to be adequately submerged in the sauce so when the lid goes on to steam, they take around 30-40 seconds to cook perfectly.
Ingredients
Serves 2 / GF
500g, mussels, cleaned and barnacles removed
100g, prawns, peeled, de-veined and roughly minced with a knife or cleaver
5 long red chillies, de seeded and roughly chopped
10g, fresh red turmeric, peeled and roughly chopped (1 teaspoon of dried turmeric can be used instead)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
10g, wild ginger, krachai, peeled and roughly chopped (regular ginger can be used instead but is different)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cleaned and chopped coriander roots
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
5g, green peppercorns, scraped off the stem
10g, Thai sweet basil
100ml fish stock
150ml, coconut cream
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon, thick tamarind water
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
8 Thai shallots, peeled and sliced
Firstly, make the paste. Using a pestle and mortar pound together the red chilli, garlic, coriander roots, fresh turmeric and ginger, use the sea salt as an abrasive.
Next heat the vegetable oil in a hot wok and the add the paste to the oil, continue to scrape and stir this paste for a minute or so until it begins to turn golden brown. Next add the green peppercorns and stir fry for a further 20 seconds to release the flavour. Next de-glaze the wok with the fish sauce, stock and half the coconut cream, stir well and the add the mussels and minced prawns, give a gentle toss being careful not to damage any mussel shells and then place the wok lid on and leave to steam for 2 minutes, then remove the lid and gently shake. The mussels should have all popped open and the prawns should be pink in colour and hot throughout.
At this stage add the tamarind, Thai basil, spring onion, Thai shallots and the rest of the coconut cream and then gently sir all ingredients together, it should taste creamy, fishy and savoury, with a mild chilli kick. Serve with cheeks of limes to squeeze over the top and finger bowls.
Source: Sebby
