These red curry mussels are cooked in a Thai-inspired broth of stock, coconut milk, curry paste, Sriracha, and ginger, and finished with a sprinkle of cilantro. Makes a lovely entrée or appetizer.
These red curry mussels remind us that quick and easy weeknight dinners don’t need to be humdrum. Less than 30 minutes later, you’ve got a slightly spicy, warming broth with perfectly cooked mussels and just enough heat to make the curry memorable. And something you’ll want to play with other nights, adding vegetables and perhaps swapping out shrimp or thinly sliced chicken for the mussels.–Renee Schettler
☞ Contents
Red Curry Mussels
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 pounds mussels
- 1 cup homemade fish stock or chicken stock
- 1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce or more to taste
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos or wheat-free tamari
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
Directions
- Rinse the mussels under cool water and, if necessary, remove the beards.
- In a large pot, combine the stock, coconut milk, curry paste, Sriracha, ginger, and coconut aminos or tamari and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to mix well.
- Once the mixture is simmering, add the mussels and cover the pot. Cook until the shells open, 5 to 10 minutes. You may have a few mussels that don’t open; remove and discard them.
- Transfer the mussels to a platter or individual shallow bowls and ladle some of the cooking liquid over the top. Garnish with the cilantro.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Weeknight dinner winner! Since weekdays are the best times to buy fish, how about a quick stop at the fishmonger on your way home from the office? Trust me! This recipe is done and on the table in less than 30 minutes flat. I used the homemade chicken stock I had in the freezer and store-bought Sriracha. All of my liquids went into a sturdy 4 quart enamel pot first thing and I set out to rinse and clean my mussels while the pot came to a boil. This took about 10 minutes. I turned the heat down to a simmer, added the cleaned mussels, and replaced the lid to steam.
While waiting, I minced up the cilantro for the garnish and checked the rice I was working on as a side. When I checked in on the shellfish at 5 minutes, the bivalves on top seemed to need a bit more time so I turned over the whole lot so the top mussels where now at the bottom in the sauce. I let that go another 2 minutes. The extra time was perfect. All were open and tender. Time to eat. I served the mussels with a side of jasmine rice, whose job it was to drink up the crazy delicious sauce.
Let me say up-front you will need 1 pound of mussels per hungry adult. Otherwise mutiny may ensue. Don’t worry about doubling the recipe for the sauce. There will be plenty of sauce to go around even with a couple pounds of mussels.
We love curry but don’t serve it often so the mussel recipe was a nice change from our ordinary menu. Simple ingredients, quick recipe, and yum! The sauce was gingery with a little heat but I felt it needed a little kick from something salty although my tasters loved the sauce as it was. The mussels were perfectly cooked. I served the mussels with rice. I would make this again but add some fish sauce and maybe a touch of lime.
Originally published March 04, 2019
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Karen Depp
Mussels are always good, but this recipe makes them good in a special way. The combination of the curry, ginger, and coconut milk makes the broth smooth, subtle, and just plain delicious. The cilantro adds that pungent taste that’s offset by the Sriracha. A perfect blending of lots of great flavors.
I bought and used 2 pounds mussels instead of 1. I had the fishmonger (I love that word) weigh 1 pound so I could judge how many that would be. The shells looked more like the size of our Gulf oyster shells rather than the small ones I am used to. Two pounds was just enough for 2 main dish servings. I used shrimp stock from a previous recipe so that was a bonus time-saver for me. Also, these mussels were the largest I have ever seen, so if mine took a bit longer, that might be the reason, as being bigger should make them lazier and slower to open, right? I cooked the mussels for just under 10 minutes so that they all opened and were cooked.
In less than half an hour, this was done, from start to finish. A loaf of crusty French bread is perfect to finish off the great broth. And I have no chickens to clean the shells, so they went into the driveway to the barn!