Southeast Asian Mussel Salad Food

SOUTHEAST ASIAN MUSSEL SALAD

Steps:

• Put mussels in a large pot with a lid. Pour 1/4 cup water over all, cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a steady bubble (you will hear it and see some steam escaping). Shake pot now and then.
• Meanwhile, combine coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, lime zest and chilies in a large bowl; add bean sprouts, cucumber and red pepper.
• Mussels will be done in 5 to 10 minutes, or when all or most of the shells have opened. Remove and let cool slightly, reserving cooking liquid. (If there is a great deal, reduce it while you shuck mussels.)
• When mussels are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells and add them to bowl with vegetables and dressing. Add cilantro and as much of the reserved cooking liquid as you need to make mixture saucy. Toss well to combine, adjust seasonings and serve, or refrigerate for up to a few hours.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PORK SALAD

Steps:

• Grate the lime zest and set aside, then juice half of the lime into a large bowl and cut the other half into small wedges. Whisk 1 teaspoon peanut oil and a pinch of salt into the lime juice. Add the slaw and cucumbers and toss to coat.
• Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ginger and cook, stirring, until soft but not browned, about 1 minute. Stir in the pork and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned in spots and no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes. Carefully pour off all but about 1 tablespoon fat from the skillet. Stir in the chili-garlic sauce, fish sauce and lime zest and remove from the heat.
• Divide the slaw mixture among bowls. Top with the pork, herbs and peanuts; serve with the lime wedges.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHRIMP AND GRAPEFRUIT SALAD

Steps:

• Put shrimp in a saucepan with salted water to cover; bring to a boil, then turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque in center. (Alternatively, grill or saute, sprinkling shrimp with salt as they cook.) Cool in refrigerator or under cold running water, then peel (and devein if you like). Cut shrimp in half if they're large.
• Combine nam pla or soy sauce with 2 tablespoons water, sugar and lime juice, and blend or whisk until smooth.
• Arrange the lettuce on 4 plates; top each portion with a few grapefruit pieces, some shrimp, and the mint and cilantro; drizzle with the dressing, then sprinkle with a little of the minced chilies and chopped peanuts if you like, or pass them at the table.

ASIAN STYLE MUSSELS

Steps:

• Heat the oil a large skillet, with a lid, over medium heat. Add the shallots, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and chili, and stir-fry until golden and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Add the water, fish sauce, and sugar, stir and bring to a simmer. Add the mussels, cover and steam until they open and plump slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Discard any mussels that do not open. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro, and mint leaves. Divide the mussels and broth evenly among the bowls. Serve.

MUSSEL SALAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix together the potatoes, garlic, scallions, carrots, and green papaya. Add 4 tablespoons aioli and toss gently. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Divide onto 2 salad plates and arrange 6 mussels on each plate
• In a blender puree yolks with sambal, garlic, and lime juice. With the blender running, add canola oil in a stream and emulsify mixture.
• Wine suggestion: Alsace Gewurztraminer Heissenberg

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STEAK SALAD

Steps:

• Tear romaine into pieces into a bowl. Halve cucumber lengthwise and seed. Thinly slice cucumber crosswise and add to romaine. Chill romaine mixture, covered. Mince shallot, jalapeño, and garlic (wear rubber gloves when handling jalapeño) and in a large bowl stir together with lime juice, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oil, fish sauce, and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
• Pat steak dry and season with salt. In an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet heat remaining tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté steak 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.
• While steak is standing, stack mint leaves and thinly slice. Toss mint with romaine mixture and all but about 2 tablespoons dressing until combined well. Divide salad between 2 plates and slice steak. Toss steak with remaining dressing and arrange on salads.

STEAMED MUSSELS, ASIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Put the oil in a saucepan large enough to hold all the mussels and turn the heat to medium. A minute later, add the scallion, ginger, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute.
• Add the mussels, turn the heat to high, and cover the pot. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until they all (or nearly all) open, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
• Scoop the mussels into a serving bowl. Add the soy sauce to the liquid, then pass it through a fine strainer (or a coarse one lined with cheesecloth). Pour the liquid over the mussels and serve.
• Variations
• Curried Steamed Mussels: Substitute butter for the oil. Substitute shallot for the scallion and omit the ginger and garlic. When the shallot is soft, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon curry powder and cook, stirring, for another 30 seconds. Cook and finish as directed, substituting the juice of 1 lime for the soy sauce.
• Thai Steamed Mussels: Use peanut oil. Add 1 lemongrass stalk, roughly chopped; 1 small dried hot red chile; and 2 lime leaves to the scallion, ginger, and garlic. Substitute nam pla (fish sauce) for the soy sauce.
• Steamed Clams with Soy: Most mussel recipes will work for steamers, which are also known as soft-shell clams. But steamers must be rinsed after shucking to remove all traces of sand, and you don't want to dilute these delicious broths by dipping clams into them one after the other. The solution is to substitute littlenecks-small hardshell clams, the kind served on the half shell and used for pasta with clam sauce-for the mussels. These contain no sand at all, but because their shells are heavier, use 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of littlenecks to replace each pound of mussels. Proceed exactly as directed.
• Mussels
• Every year, we see more and more cultivated mussels, most often from Prince Edward Island, which is fast becoming the mussel farming capital of North America. These are easy to clean (almost clean enough to eat without washing, but still worth a quick going over), with very few rejects and plump meat. Wild mussels are far tastier but harder to clean. When cleaning mussels, discard any with broken shells. If the mussels have beards-the hairy vegetative growth that is attached to the shell-trim them off. Those mussels that remain closed after the majority have been steamed open can be pried open with a knife (a butter knife works fine) at the table.