Suspicious criminal activity of is happening right under my roof! We entertain about once a week, usually for a weekend supper where we invite our close friends over and treat them to a massive feast.
They all know the routine. When I am finished with a dish, no touching until I get a photograph. With seafood, I make the photo shoot super-quick so that we can eat the dish while it’s still hot.
::snap::
::snap::
and I’m done.
I’ve had to make Steamed Mussels in Lemongrass Coconut Curry no less than 4 times in the past 2 months. Each time, when I review the photos the next day, the shots are terrible…the exposure is all off, the mussels are out of focus and the whites turn out gray.
My friends know that since my husband doesn’t like seafood, I will most likely serve Steamed Mussels in Lemongrass Coconut Curry when we are entertaining. They know that I really really want to post this recipe because it’s one of my favorites, even the best restaurants can’t produce flavors like mine….and that I won’t post the dish unless the photograph passes the “drool-worthy” test.
These are well-known facts.
Even this morning, when I reviewed all the photos from last night, the photos came out funky. Everything had a blue-ish hue to it!
Hmmmmm…..something FISHY going on here ::cue Mission Impossible theme song::
Come to think of it….my friends last night devoured the mussels as if this was the best thing that ever happened to seafood. As if mussels were born to be bathed in the exotic flavors of lemongrass, coconut milk and Thai curry. As if my friends savored the dish with familiarity…like when you go to your favorite restaurant and order your favorite dish every time… I also observed a silent smugness amongst them.
Strange. Sussssspicious!!
Its a conspiracy! Someone is messing with my camera settings so that I take a crap photo so that I MUST make this dish again so that I MUST invite my friends over so that they can eat Steamed Mussels with Lemongrass Coconut Curry over and over and over again!!! EEEEEKK!!!!!
Well….I’m on to them!!! So I’m publishing this recipe, even though the photo doesn’t meet my standards. Out of the handful of snaps, this was the ONLY one that was in focus. But you can’t even see the Lemongrass Coconut Curry broth! The best part of the dish is the sauce, and my friends, you can’t see it so therefore you will just have to imagine the flavors in your mind.
🙂
Secrets to Steamed Mussels with Lemongrass Coconut Curry
So I’ll share the secrets to this dish with you AND hopefully my friends are reading this so that they too can make this dish at home and not have to resort to suspicious sabotage again. Really, its a VERY simple dish with few ingredients. The entire dish from start to finish takes less than 30 minutes. The hardest part was finding the can opener that I accidentally misplaced last week after unsucessfully whacking a coconut with it.
Secret #1: Clam Juice
Instead of making a standard Thai curry sauce, I wanted it to be more “broth-like” – chicken broth would be too chicken-y, vegetable broth would be too vegetable-y, and water would be to water-y. Clam juice was the perfect solution. To create a fragrant broth, I added grated lemongrass and let the two reduce down so that I ended up with a concentrated lemongrass-infused broth. Use a microplane/rasp grater to grate the white parts of the lemongrass stalk (the bottom 6″) If you don’t have access to fresh lemongrass, come over over to my house where the stuff practically grows like weeds in my yard. If you don’t live within 60 mile radius of my home, visit an Asian market or substitute with lemon peel. Take a lemon and a vegetable peeler. Peel just the outermost layer of skin (not the white part) – get about 4 large wide strips. Use that instead of the lemongrass. Just remove and discard the strips when the broth is reduced. The photo above only shows 1 bottle of clam juice – but please use 2 bottles (I had already opened and poured one bottle out when “aha! maybe I should take a photo of the ingredients!”
To find clam juice – go to aisle with canned seafood…tuna, sardines, etc. It usually is there. It’s most commonly used in Italian Linguine with Clams Sauce dish. If your regular supermarket doesn’t carry clam juice – try an Italian specialty market, or substitute with 1/2 cup white wine + 1/2 cup veg broth.
Secret #2: The Coconut Milk
At your supermarket, you’ll probably find a few different brands of coconut milk. Don’t bother reading the labels. Pick up each can, shake it. If it sloshes with lots and lots of liquid, put it back. Buy the one that sounds and feels solid and heavy. This is by far the simplest way to judge a good quality, first pressing, fatty coconut milk. The lesser quality brands contain diluted coconut milk or they use multiple pressings, which results in very little flavor. You might be tempted to buy the “light” version, but please don’t. In this dish, you will only use 1 can, divided amongst 4-6 people…so really, you aren’t consuming that many calories. The best brand I’ve found is a Thai brand for 89 cents and Thai Kitchen (above in lg photo) at double the price but a very very good quality.
Secret $3: The Curry Paste
Use a concentrated Thai curry paste. I happened to have Panang flavor on hand, but you can use any of the other flavors (Red, Green Yellow). You can find these at your Asian market or order online through EthnicGrocer. You can adjust the hotness of the final dish by the amount of paste that you use. Start with 1-2 tablespoons and go from there.
Secret #4: The Noodles
I love adding mung bean noodles (same thing as cellophane or glass noodles). Once you finish digging through the mussels, you’re left with the golden prize – delicious curry broth clinging to the clear, slippery noodles. Slurp! Slurp! See more info on bean noodles at Temple of Thai.
Steamed Mussels with Lemongrass Coconut Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed & picked through (discard cracked shells and ones that don't close when tapped)
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, white part grated with microplane grater (or substitute with 4 wide strips of lemon peel)
- 2 bottles of clam juice (or substitute with vegetable broth + wine)
- 1 can (14oz) of good coconut milk, shake the can vigorously to mix the fat with the liquid
- 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of Thai curry paste (depends on your spice level)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 small skeins of mung bean noodles, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes.
- chopped scallions & chili for topping
Instructions
- Fry the curry paste: In a wok or large pot, turn heat to medium. When wok is hot but not smoking, add 2 tbl curry paste and the lemongrass (or lemon peel). Fry for 30 seconds to release its flavors. Add the clam juice, fish sauce, sugar and coconut milk. Simmer for 3 minutes. If you are using lemon peel, discard lemon peel. Taste the broth. If you want more heat, add more curry paste. In meantime, drain your mung bean noodles. The noodles should still be a little stiff.
- Steam the mussels: Turn heat to high and add your mussels. Immediately cover with tight fitting lid. Steam on high for 4 minutes. Open lid, scootch the mussels to one side, add mung bean noodles and cook for another minute uncovered. Use a large spoon to redistribute the mussels from the top to the bottom of the broth, cook another 30 seconds and it's done! Top with chopped chilies and scallions.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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This recipe was perfect as is. I omitted cellophane noodles just because I made it my boyfriend’s friends and didn’t want them to shun the yummy noodles. Served it with bread and I broke in 2 non mussel eaters!
Hey guys! Thats too bad that the clam juice is hard to find where some of you live. I’ve included an edit in the recipe that substitutes the clam juice for 1/2c white wine + 1/2c veg broth. Simmer that with the lemongrass or lemon peel and it should taste mighty fine.
Thanks to all of you for your kind comments. I know I’m totally copping out by such a “generic” response to the last few comments….forgive me?
Wow. Just. WOW. I made these last night and I just had to come back to say how phenomenal this dish was. There was pretty much silence at the table other than the “mmmmm”s, “ooooh”s and the slurping of mung beans. LOL The ingredient list is deceptively small yet the flavors are huge and perfectly balanced. I’m already plotting ways to use the base in other ways; I’m sure the possibilities are endless.
Enjoyed making your receipe last night, mussels were excellent, thank you for sharing it for all to try! Question though…
Added mussels to boiling broth, cooked them for about 5 minutes, and after taking them out to serve, noticed the mussels themselves were swollen and poofy….there was absolutely nothing wrong in eating them, they were very tender & tasty….wondered if boiling them at too high a temp caused them to expand?
Many Thanks!
They’re supposed to be plump! shriveled mussels = not as fresh. Nice, fat mussels is what you want.
Cooking technique also affects how plump the mussels end up. Roasting in dry oven will cause moisture loss in mussel, so if you like a denser, tougher mussel, then i recommend in oven or even bbq: https://steamykitchen.com/4615-cedar-planked-mussels.html
Steaming keeps moisture in and also allows the mussel to plump up and absorb some of the steaming broth.
actually i dated wrong today is the 6th so i see….
June 5 2008
Made this for the family supper tonite and hubby made special mention that i must thank you for this delicious recipe….and delicious it is (like i would not write you otherwise eh?)
now i am going to make more sechuan salt….(posted today)
Will definitely try adding clam jce next time. I’ve also used a shortcut way for mussels..tomyum paste with water and tofu/ eggplant etc, put everything in a foil pan, cover with piece of foil,place on the BBQ grill…takes 10mins tops! One time, I was having a beer, sloshed some into the pan…extra oomph!!
I made this dish last week. We loved it so much that I made it again the next night too! I thought that the cellophane noodle idea was brilliant! We used these nifty chopsticks I found with little grooves on the tips. They really grab those noodles! My daughter slurped them up even though she doesn’t like shellfish.
I have also used drbombay’s method of making Thai curries. (I got it from one of Nigella’s books.) Jaden’s method is certainly a little easier and I think it tastes just as great. In my opinion, the clam juice is the magic ingredient here. I never thought of it myself, but it gives the curry broth such a deep flavor. I did add a little extra coconut milk and fish sauce too. That is one of the great things about a dish like this – you can change things up a little and still have success!
Hi Dr Bombay, “cooking the curry” does release the oils, but doesn’t make that much of a difference when you use canned coconut milk. last time I made this I also used an entire can of coconut milk + entire can of curry- just b/c I wanted leftover broth to pour over rice the next day!
also used 1 can coconut milk.
the way I was taught about making a thai curry, would be to cook the broth separate in a pot. in a work or 2nd pot, (do not shake the coconut milk!!) add the cream from the top of the unshook coconut milk to the pan with the curry paste. wait for the milk to release its oils. then add the rest of the skim coconut milk and the broth.
supposedly, this makes a difference.
made this tonight and made a few changes. used only 1 bottle of clam juice, then 1 bottle of water with some shrimp shells thrown in. I used 2 T of green curry paste, but it was still missing something. a little more fish sauce (saltiness) which was probably due to the subbing of the water/shrimp shells (next time I’ll add salt to the water).
otherwise, worked out quite well though I didn’t care for the noodles with this dish. too slippery. would prefer with rice on the side, with sauce poured on it, I think next time.
otherwise, thanks.
yeah. 180. actually 180+..but dont tell anyone.
and thanks for the tips on the coconut milk..I never knew that.
Hey guys! Thats too bad that the clam juice is hard to find where some of you live. I’ve included an edit in the recipe that substitutes the clam juice for 1/2c white wine + 1/2c veg broth. Simmer that with the lemongrass or lemon peel and it should taste mighty fine.
Thanks to all of you for your kind comments. I know I’m totally copping out by such a “generic” response to the last few comments….forgive me?
xoxo
jaden
Jaden, I am a certified food blog junkie! I recently found yours and I absolutely love it! Your recipes are interesting and straightforward, your writing entertaining and your photos are beautiful. I’ve literally read every post back to your first one and have already tried several of your recipes- with much success! The best thing was finding out that you are in Sarasota. I am too. I grew up here and ended up here again after grad school (many moons ago).
I would love to know where you find your freshest seafood here in town. Sometimes, I get lucky at Walt’s, but I haven’t had great luck at the supermarkets. Their fish always smells like bleach! I can never seem to find nice fresh mussels, clams, etc.
Also, what specialty stores do you recommend for sauces, spices, and other generally cool foods? I read the comment about the asian market on 12th St and will give it a try.
Keep up the good work.
looks like it’s fresh out of the sea!
Hi Jaden,
Not to worry about the photo of the mussels. You can be sure that it’s still drool worthy here. *oops where’s the tissue*
I’m worried that if I see the mussels photo that passes your benchmark, I’m going to need a new box of tissues on my desk. 😀
My friends have (also) learnt this important foodblogger rule of no eating until the camera has been put away. Though now, the difficulty is to get them to come to the table when I’m done with the photos.
ps. Sorry about the blogroll link. I have now fixed it up so it now points here. Must’ve forgotten to change it when I fixed up my own bookmarks a while ago. 🙂
I have newly found your blog, but it immideatly caught my attention and girl do your recipies and pictures make my mouth water! 🙂
This mussels recipie made me do an invitation to a girls only dinner before I’d even tried the recipie out! It just seemed so delicious and easy that I felt I couldn’t fail. But now that I was going to buy ingredients I couldn’t find any clam juice (I live in the Swedish countryside). Any ideas as to what I should do? The asian stores here have no idea what this juice is. Might the solution simply be to substitute it with the juice from canned mussels, adding water? What do you think?
I love your conspiracy theory. Yep. It’s probably that. LOL.
The recipe looks simple enough, but I’m not sure if I can find clam juice here. I’ll have to think of alternatives, I guess.
You had me laughing out loud!
Only because I do the same thing. Everyone knows there will be no eating until the pictures are done.
That curry sauce looks lickable.
This is definitely getting bookmarked! My lord…what a delectable way to have mussels! I love Thai curry! And mussels! Ok…gotta calm down now…
“Crappy photo” yet it makes it on TasteSpotting with 40+ commenters drooling 🙂 Behold the power of deliciousness – whether the photo is perfect or not! Hehe. AND if I knew you, I wouldn’t let you be done with making this recipe! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Well, I’ve replied to the question over at Serious Eats based on SuburbanGourmet’s question here. That’s a difficult one I had a hard time putting words to!
Hot damn woman! This sounds simply divine…what a lovely post to welcome me back from Chicago. Now i just have to find the energy to make it. All that tromping around at Blogher and sampling the cities good eats has worn me out. *sigh*
This looks so tasty. Since you make it often for dinner parties, what else is on the menu?
I made this tonight, and I will certainly be adding this to the repertoire. Wow! I used the same curry paste you picture (though considered the kaeng kua) and it was sensational! 2 for 2 tonight on great recommendations! Next up – the pho!
Dear Jaden,
Mussels are only $4 a bag and feeds 4-6? Inexpensive, yet elegant dish.
Thanks for the tips on selecting mussels, “discard cracked shells and ones that don�t close when tapped”.
Thanks for the visit! I can’t wait to try your mussels recipe. It looks delicious.
Ok, I don’t mean to sound weird here but please, someone tell me what Mussels taste like? I’ve never tasted then but want but I’m a little chicken!
Fabulous — and the photos are great. This is a dish I love to eat in restaurants but have never made at home. Now with your good advice, I will definitely go for it!
Excellent tip about the coconut milk! Though I must fess up: I buy “lightened” coconut milk. Still friends? 😉
My husband loves mussels, so I’ll have to make this for him, with the FULL FAT milk, of course.
Ahhh…so you cooked the mung bean noodle with curry. I know it’s going to be delish already! No mussels for me though cause hubby won’t take it.
I want to look for the clam juice here! I hardly see them 🙁 or just maybe…I have not looked hard enough :O
This is indeed so drool-worthy! I would sometimes add lemongrass when I do a steamed fish dish too! I can now try these combination ingredients – coconut milk, curry paste, lemongrass on mussels and maybe other seafood.
LPC- Did you know that Mussels are only $4 a bag- that feeds 4-6?
Kitt- I think mussels are SO easy to cook – even easier than shrimp, since they only need a quick scrub.
Kirk- awww thanks!
Meeso- welcome!
Rose- thanks for your kind words
WC- little spiral snails WOULD BE SOOOO GOOD in the broth
Mark- how can you be Asian and NOT LIKE SEAFOOD?!?? just kidding!
Karen-oooooohhh white wine garlic…..thats my 2nd fav way to eat mussels
JEP- thanks! welcome back. i haven’t seen you in a looong time.
LPC- he. he. funny. veeeerrry funny.
Wendy- welcome!
Ninja- yeah…it was SO yummy
Kat- oh good – I”m glad you can “imagine” the broth!
Carol- yeah, i’m a perfectionist when it comes to food
Melinda- ha! and I’d happily cook for you each time
Anh- we are food sistas
BBO- green mussels are actually my first favorite type. But I can only get blue
Mercedes- thats EXACTLY what I said before I married him….but then he promised me fame and fortune. And I’m still waiting.
Ellie- look in the canned seafood section. Use clam juice to make seafood broths or italian linguine and clam sauce
Hey Caitlyn, nice to meet you!
Meena- this would taste just as good with shrimp or lobster.
hmm….might just do that tonight.
Coffee- I promise more veg dishes soon
E/W Kitchen- I love that curry paste. It sure beats making paste from scratch
Amy- naah…YOUR photos rock!
W&S- I’m hoping that you’ll post a recipe for that soon
Isha- I hope you try it!
Veron-sneaky snarky bunch
Johanna- oh dear, I’d gladly give up mussels if I could be in Austria
Holly- thats my fav store too. In fact, I’m going over there today
Dylin- absolutely! Just cut the initial steam time to 1.5 minutes. Clams are much smaller and only req’ a couple of minutes of cooking
Jaded- Thank you. I do that for ginger too. There is nothing more frustrating than getting fibers stuck in your teeth
Retno- I don’t think I’ve seen Arroy at the stories. I’ll have to search it out.
I�m not a Mussels�fan, but your pictures… I�m speechless!
For coconut milk, I prefer to use Arroy than chaokoh. I�ve found it more thick and contains more coconut milk than water. Anyway, It�s just my opinion and may wrong.
I love mussels, unfortunately my hubby doesn’t enjoy them as much as I do. I’ll definitely have to put this in the queue for recipes to try. I think your method of using the microplane to grate the lemongrass is genius! I never even thought to do it that way when I used to cook with it.
Do you think it will still be delicious if I substitute Manila Clams for the mussels?
I think I might make this tonight for dinner!
Good morning, Jaden,
Good that your give readers some coconunt milk selection tips. Let’s also remind them that they want UNSWEETENED coconut milk—not what someone might choose for pina coladas!
Since many of your Sarasota-Bradenton (Florida) correspondents ask where they can buy Asian ingredients– we should tell them about:
Phuoc Loc Tho Oriental Supermarket in Sarasota
1944 12th St (just west of 301)
tel: 941-365-0520
The owners are Vietnamese and stock a wide selection of fresh, canned, and dried ingredients for the cuisines of Southeast Asia, China, and Japan.
It’s a large, cheerful place with helpful staff.
A bientot– Holly
http://hollychase.igc.org
hi jaden, i have exactly the same problem! i love mussels and no matter what sauce i make, they all look the same in the picture… the sauce has disappeared, there’s barely a juicy muscle to be seen and it all looks like a pile of empty shells! yours is very succeeded, though… and it sounds lip-smackingly good! since i will be spending another 4 weeks in austria now, mussels are far off – no seafood to be had here, but i am feasting on loads of alpine snacks!
Ha ha, what sneaky friends you have. The picture looks good to me, those mussels looks pretty plump and waiting to be eaten. I’m thankful for this recipe, all I know to do with mussels are marinara sauce .
i luv mussels, i havn’t had any for ages, ur mussels looks delish n yummy for sure
I love mussels and stuff myself silly with them everytime I go to my inlaws! One of my favourite dishes is moules marini�res – mmmmm. But mussels with coconut milk and lemon grass! mmmmm – even better!!
The noodles at the bottom sound sooo good! Great tips about the secret ingredients too ;). As soon as I get my hands on some mussels I’ll be making this recipe. Thanks again for a great recipe Jaden! Your photographs are always drool worthy and this one is no exception! 🙂
Your mussels look lovely! I usually cook mine with garlic and white wine, but I like your version better. 🙂 I often use that particular curry paste on chicken too.
If this is not a fab pic… then what is my dear!!!??? 🙂 I am a vegetarian as I have said before and these things really dont make sense to me…. but the pic is appleaing enough. 🙂
Hmmn… a nice scheming bunch you have there! I’m not fond of mussels, but your version of the curry is begging me to give it a shot. I think shrimps would be my best bet.
And the pics, who are you kidding missy? You know I’ll drool over anything you shoot, er, I mean serve! 🙂
Hello Jaden,
I just discovered your blog last week (through Ari at Baking and Books) and I am already a *huge*fan! I’ve printed a number of your recipes to try, and yesterday I made the Spam Fried Rice. It was very yummy — I’ll post about it tomorrow.
The mussels look delish, and that first photo is gorgeous!!
Oh, you perfectionist, you!! They look absolutely marvellous, and I’d LOVE to give it a try…except that I’ve never heard of or seen this clam juice that you’re hailing! What is it, and what can I make do with? 🙁
Mussels have to be one of my favorite foods, I don’t think I could marry someone who didn’t like seafood, I eat it almost every day! I usually do some variation on moules marinare, but I’ll have to try this!
We love mussels. Your mussel dish looks very invitng and intrigging. We also love mussel especially green mussel from australia and have them saute with mince onion and white wine. Mussels are always lovely……
yummy! This is how I cooked my mussels, too!
Do you think we have the similar tastebud?
Jaden, I would mess up your camera too if it meant you’d re-feed me such fantastic food. It took you 4 times to figure it out so they must be good at it.
The mussels look delicious. Like all your tips for getting the right thing. You are always so good to tell your secrets.
Hey Jaden, the photo looks great, you are such a perfectionist (Just like me, I guess!) We are our own greatest enemy! I love seafood but am a little careful these days when it comes to shell fish, I had a really, really bad experience with food poisoning some years back. Great tip with regards to discarding unopened shellfish.
mmm, I could smell the spices 🙂
Beautiful dish 🙂 Certainly yummy.
Just discovered your blog and absolutely adore it! Looking forward to reading more. 🙂
Mary brought it up, and I agree … what, you didn’t go get a fresh coconut and get the milk from it? 😉
I love your writing style & details! I have never eaten mussels before. Your blog is all yummy eye-candy to me!
Your photo is making my mouth water for those mussels – don’t be so hard on yourself!
Steamed mussels are such a great, easy meal – I usually do them Italian-style with lots of white wine, garlic and olive oil – but the curry sounds delicious.
Why can’t I have (local) friends like you
Seafood isn’t one of my favourites, but you make mussels more tempting than they already are!
I’d pour all that yummy broth over rice. 🙂 Reminds me of the spiral snail sauce I ate in Vietnam two summers ago. I so want this now!
You are the only one who thinks that your first picture doesn’t look great. It does, really. It is beautiful. Yes, we don’t see the broth but we can smell it with all the details you have given us. Hopefully your friends will fiend it easy enough to try it themselves and stop juggling with your camera settings…
Will have to try it one day
Oooohhh…what a gorgeous blog!!! How have I missed this for so long…I’m very happy to find you! Can’t wait to check out all your recipes, the one’s I’ve seen so far are amazing!
Hi Jaden – Who are you kidding, your photos always look great. There are dishes that I can’t post…well because I’m not much of a cook, and the photos just son’t come out.
That looks delicious! I’m so glad you decided to foil the dastardly schemers who would keep this dish to themselves.
I’ve always wanted to try cooking mussels at home but it makes me a little nervous. Your instructions are so clear and simple, though, that I am definitely going to give it a try.
Dear Jaden,
I thought the first photo looked beautiful. I have to try this recipe because it is hard to find a restaurant that serves soft fresh mussels. Now, I just have to learn how to buy mussels.