Not as hot and spicy as it sounds, but delicious all the same! The mussels can be substituted for pretty much anything – prawns, chicken, beancurd, vegetables. Serves 4 as a starter without the rice or 2 as a main course.
Preparation: 20 minutes.
You will need:
- 1kg rope-grown mussels
- Kaffir lime leaves
- 1 lime
- Lemon grass
- 1 bunch spring onion
- 1 red chilli, de-seeded
- 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
- 3 tsp Thai green curry paste
- 1/2 block creamed coconut
- Long grain rice
Rinse 3 cups of rice in cold water, and set it to boil with the juice of half the lime, along with the lemon grass and kaffir leaves. These flavours will infuse and make the rice fragrant. Stir occasionally for the next fifteen minutes, to stop the rice from sticking to the pan.
Meanwhile, clean the mussels, pulling off any beards and discarding any shells which may already be open. Set aside and reconstitute the coconut milk in a little hot water. (Tip: three minutes in the microwave should soften up the block of coconut milk.)
Finely chop the spring onion and chilli, and fry it in a little vegetable oil until the onion softens. Add the curry paste and cook a little longer, before removing from the heat. Add the sliced mushrooms, the remainder of the lime juice and the coconut milk, and stir gently. Taste it – it should smell and taste delicious! Remove from heat until rice has been cooking for ten minutes.
Now add the mussels to the sauce. Stir frequently for the next five minutes. The mussels will open and steam gently in the sauce. Place in a large bowl, discarding any shells which haven’t opened. Pour some boiling water over the rice before serving, remove the lemon grass and kaffir leaves, and serve with the mussels.