Stir-fried mussels with mushrooms - kua hoi mussel sai het
 
Prep time
Cook time
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A delicious Lao-Australian stir-fry of mussels with mushrooms in a mildly spicy oyster and basil sauce.
Author:
Recipe type: Stir fry
Cuisine: Lao-Australian
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1.5 kg of mussels
  • 10 button mushrooms (halved)
  • 3 cloves of garlic (sliced)
  • 1 knob of ginger (sliced)
  • 2 chilies (chopped)
  • ½ Tablespoon of fish sauce
  • ½ Tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 2 Tablespoon of cooking oil
  • ½ a bunch of basil (leaves only)
  • 3 spring onion (chopped)
  • 1 lemon/lime
  • ¼ teaspoon of cracked black pepper
Instructions
  1. Wash, clean and scrub the mussels thoroughly. Remove their 'beards' and other loose/dirty bits.
  2. Place the mussels in a large bowl and soak them in cold water for 2 hours. Change the water twice while soaking.
  3. Prepare the herbs and vegetables: wash and halve the button mushrooms; wash and slice the chili, garlic and ginger; chop the spring onions into 5 cm pieces; wash and remove the basil leaves from their stems; wash and slice the lemon/lime into quarters.
  4. Drain the mussels.
  5. Place the mussels in a large shallow heat-proof dish and steam the mussels until their shells just open. (This should take about 3 minutes - keep an eye on them).
  6. When the shells open, carefully remove the dish from the steamer.
  7. Drain the dish and save the liquid from the mussels in a small bowl.
  8. Carefully and neatly remove the empty half of the shells of each mussel. Discard the empty shells and put the mussels aside.
  9. In a fry pan or wok, heat the cooking oil on medium heat until hot. Add the chili, garlic and ginger, and saute them until they turn golden brown.
  10. Add the mushrooms and stir through for 1 minute.
  11. Add the liquid from the mussels, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and cracked black pepper. Stir through gently.
  12. Add the mussels, basil leaves and spring onions and stir through. Ensure the mussels are heated up are covered with the sauce.
  13. Taste the sauce and adjust to suit your palate. What you're aiming for is a delicious balance of sweet, savoury, slightly spicy and herbal/basil flavours.
  14. Transfer to a serving plate or bowl.
  15. Squeeze some lemon/lime juice on top.
  16. Serve immediately with extra wedges of lemon/lime and bail leaves or dill.
  17. Enjoy with bread, sourdough, steamed rice or sticky rice, etc. Bon appetit! :)
Notes
Button mushrooms are perfect for this dish, however, you can substitute it with other types of mushrooms too, eg oyster, swiss brown, etc. Better still - mix it up!
Recipe by Padaek at http://padaek.com/stir-fried-mussels-mushrooms-kua-hoi-mussel-sai-het/