Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Steamed Mussels with Ginger

This is a favorite of mine. I love this poured over hot, white rice. Though I love a lot of stuff over white rice, which isn't saying very much, but this one is awesome with it. Rice BEGS for broth, in my opinion.
Or you can sop up the broth with some crusty bread


Ingredients:
A few pounds of fresh mussels
A few cloves of garlic, pounded (I don't dice, I pound.)
Diced tomato
Diced onion
1 tsp. of diced ginger (but for ginger I dice.)

In a heavy pot (I prefer using the dutch oven) saute garlic, then the tomato, then the onion. It's very important not to sauté them all at once. This is the base seasoning for many Filipino dishes, called "ginisa." Add the ginger. Add the mussels (I assume they've been scrubbed and have gone to the barbershop for their beard trimming?). Cover the pot. Check in 15 minutes to see if they've opened. Once they're opened and showing off their sexy bivalve meat, add as much water as you'd like for the broth. "You're so hot you need to be cooled off!" is what I like to say to my mussels. Remember, however, that adding too much will dilute flavor. Replace the cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

I served this dish this week with some whole wheat pasta and it was glorious. Or have it by itself. It can dance by itself, for sure.

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