Mussel

This must be the best season of mussel, otherwise, why do all seafood stores post "PEI fresh mussel" now? It drove us mouth watering and, we carried about 8 lb mussels back.

Usually, we cook it with shell. But this time, I would like to try the shucked ones.

(1) Rinse and brush mussels;

(2) In a 5 qt pot, add about 2 liter water, bring to boil;

(3) Add a small portion of mussels (allow water layer over mussels), remove any mussels with shell open as soon as possible, drain and transfer to a big container;

(4) Remove shell and pull out byssus threads (a bundle of brown fibres found between the two shells of the mussel);

(5) Prepare 12 dry red peppers, some slices of ginger, chopped green onion;

(6) For spicy mussel:

Heat skillet under high power, add some oil; stir in red pepper and ginger slices to develop aroma; stir in mussels and blend them well; add some rice wine or white wine; add some green onion.

(7) For sweet and sour mussel:

Heat skillet under high power, add some oil; blend hot oil with ketchup; stir in mussels and blend them well; add some rice wine or white wine; add some dry parsley flakes.

They taste soft and juicy.

Oh, what about the broth?

I kept the broth in the fridge, let the mud settle overnight. Then, remove the supernatant (I mean, the clear part) to another container, leave about 1 cm broth and discard it (try not to disturb the settled mud).

The broth tastes very delicious. My granny used to cook porridge with this broth, yummy. I am kinda lazy and I only boiled it, add some dried seaweed, let soak for several minutes and that's it.