Mussels were on offer at our local supermarket and it’s been a long time since we last had mussels. I’ve never cooked mussels before and it was sort of like a challenge for me. Wanted to make it the Asian way and searched thru all my cookbooks till I found a simple one – Mussels with Lemongrass & Basil.. 🙂
Recipe from “The Asian Cookbook” by Murdoch Books
- 1 kg fresh mussels
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 stalks lemongrass (only white part), finely chopped
- 1-2 tsp finely chopped red chillies
- 250ml white wine or water
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 30 g fresh thai basil, chopped
timetable
recipe
Serves | 1-2 |
Prep time | 30 mins |
Cook time | 12-15 mins |
Total time | ±45 mins |
Preparation:
- Throw away unopened mussels. Brush mussels clean. Remove beard. Leave mussels for 10 mins in cold water. Drain.
- Heat oil in a wok or large pan. Fry onion, garlic, lemongrass and chillies for 4 mins on low heat.
- Add wine or water and fish sauce and let sauce cook for abt 3 mins.
- Add mussels and stir them to mix with sauce. Put cover on wok or pan and leave mussels to cook for abt 3-4 mins, till they open up (don’t leave to cook for too long, otherwise they’ll become tough). Throw away unopened mussels.
- Add basil, stir to mix with mussels and sauce.
- Serve immediately with steamed rice.
We had 2 kg mussels, so I just doubled up the ingredients and could you believe it?
We, the 2 of us, finished all the mussels in one go!! Weeeell.. sure, we had to throw away some unopened mussels but, still it was almost 2 kgs!!

Rate this post if you like: