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.
