Coconut Mussels

Recipe introduction by The Splendid Table Managing Producer Sally Swift:

Simple, inexpensive and festive. Those three words sum up the recipe for Coconut Mussels from Skillet by Anna Helm-Baxter. Mussels are quickly steamed in ginger, garlic, chili and coconut milk until they open. Serve them in wide shallow bowls with a squeeze of lime and loaf of crusty bread. Farmed mussels are one of the great success stories in aquaculture. Sustainable and inexpensive compared to most shellfish they bring a lot of bang for the buck. Look for mussels that are tightly closed with dark and shiny shells with no chips or cracks. Toss any mussels that are open before you cook them.

Skillet by Anna Helm Baxter

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

• 20 g (3/4 oz) piece of ginger, peeled and julienned

• 4 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced, light and dark greens separated

• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced

• 1 x 400 ml (13 fl oz) tin coconut milk

• grated zest of 1 lime

• 900 g (2 lb) mussels, scrubbed and debearded

• 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, ginger, light parts of the spring onions, garlic and half the chilli and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and lime zest, simmer, then add the mussels. Return to a simmer, cover and cook for 4–5 minutes until the mussels open. Discard any unopened mussels. Add the lime juice. Sprinkle with the remaining spring onions and chilli.