I’ve been on quite a shellfish kick lately. In the span of a month, I’ve eaten mussels and clams almost every time I’ve had dinner out, from French-style mussels steamed in white wine at a local hangout to Chinese clams with black bean sauce at dim sum. Maybe it’s because of spring and warmer temps, but restaurants have been putting up seafood specials left and right, and I happily indulge.
Fortunately, living near two good seafood markets means I can decide on whim to have mussels and clams for dinner and just walk down the street to pick them up. A couple of days ago, I decided to do an easy meal of mussels with ginger and shallots, steamed with Chinese rice wine.
Sometimes I cook mussels with Chinese black beans and chili paste, but this time I opted for forgo heavier flavorings in favor of a lighter dish. Chinese rice wine, much like a dry white wine in preparing moules marinière, compliments and shows off the sweet brininess of the fresh mussels. And once you debeard the mussels, the actual cooking time is super quick.
Another reason to love this: the simple flavorings means that is one Chinese dish that easily pairs with most drinks, including beer, white wine, Lambrusco, and gin rickeys.
And fellow seafood fans, let me know in the comments: Do you have a favorite way of cooking mussels?
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Steamed Mussels with Ginger and Shallots
Serves 4 as an appetizer
- 2 pounds mussels
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced or chopped
Special equipment: wok or large skillet with lid
- Rinse and scrub the mussels under cold water, changing the water several times, to remove any grit. Debeard the mussels by removing the stringy bits in the seam where the two shells meet as best you can. Discard any mussels with cracked shells or any with open shells that don’t close when you gently tap them against the counter.
- Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates contact. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base. Add the ginger and shallots and stir-fry until aromatic, about 30 to 40 seconds. Add the rice wine and fish sauce. Carefully add the mussels and cover with a lid. Allow the mussels to steam for 5 minutes, then uncover. Stir in the white pepper.
- Discard any mussels that have not opened, then transfer to a serving dish along with the broth remaining in the pan. Sprinkle the scallions on top and serve.
I love mussels too and these look so delicious and easy! I want to make this soon, just have to pick up some Chinese rice wine. What brand do you recommend?
I have been itching to make mussels and I love this simple, yet flavorful preparation. I have to try it! My go-to methods are curry + coconut milk or white wine, garlic and parsley.
I love mussels. I never say no to them in wine (or beer) with herbs and garlic, but right now I’m really intrigued by recipes I haven’t tried yet. You know? This one’s next on my list! Do you think mirin might be an alright substitute for Chinese rice wine?
I had mussels yesterday. Being on the prairies, I don’t have many chances for lovely fresh mussels. Your recipe sounds great.
Mary – I recommend Shaoxing rice wine, specifically the Pagoda brand which comes in a large bottle with a red and gold label. It’s pretty widely available in Chinese markets. If you can’t find it, dry sherry is an excellent substitute.
Alyssa – I love curried mussels with coconut milk too! And white wine with garlic and parsley is always a classic.
Kimberley – Mussels with beer is always great! And mirin would work for this recipe, but the dish will just come out slightly sweeter because of mirin’s sugar content.
Sarah – Thank you! I hope the mussels you had were equally great!
I have been craving seafood all week and this recipe is just adding on to it. Thanks for sharing!
I like them Thai-style. This recipe is based on a wonderful dish from a Thai restaurant I used to go to in Manhattan, near the wholesale antiques district, on 2nd Ave and about 10th St. I took me a while to come up with this, as none of the recipes I found on the internet did the trick. Probably not as good as the original but pretty good.
For 2 lbs mussels, 1/2 to 1 Tb(after cooking) grated shallot or red onion cooked to a jam in a little butter (optional but this onion marmalade keeps in the fridge for a long time and is useful), stirfry a couple slices vidalia or other sweet onion cut in halfmoons a bit till starting to get a bit soft, add 2-3 tsp (or to taste) Tom Yum paste (mostly lemongrass with chili), 1-2 tsp palm sugar (or brown), 1/3-3/4 C coconut milk and a spritz of fish sauce. Add a bit of water or white wine depending on whether you want it a little soupy. Bring to boil. Add cleaned mussels. Stir. Cover. After a minute, stir again vigorously to encourage opening. After 3 minutes remove fully-opened mussels and continue cooking (they will shrink if overcooked!). When most have opened, add a generous amount of shredded basil (Thai or Italian), stir in and cook for another minute. Discard unopened shellfish. Serve. You could serve this over ramen noodles as a Asian analog to linguine con vongole.
I usually do them Belgian style with shallot, onion, black pepper, lots of parsley, butter, and wine, but it’s amazing how many good ways there are of steaming these wonderful critters. I definitely will try your recipe next time.
Thanks for all your recipes, BTW. I’ve made an HTML page with links to all my favorites from your site and a few others that I’ve found. Kinda like a cookbook!
LP @dishclips – No problem! Thanks for stopping by!
VJBinCT – I really like the sound of your Thai-style mussels…would love to try them in the future. Also, do you remember the name of the restaurant you mentioned? Is it still around?
Diane–I honestly can’t recall the name–it was one of those generic names like ‘A Taste of Thai’. Haven’t been there in about 15 years. It was a dealer in Chinese antiquities that I then did work for who brought me there, often with people from Sothebys and the US Customs art squad! Interesting dinners. They always had fresh orchids from Thailand on the table, as one of their principals had a flower import business too. My art dealer friend wanted to buy into the place, and so gave them a lot of business.