‘Light, fresh & aromatic’

This week has been all about easy cooking and this Asian mussel recipe fits perfectly into that category. This dish is really quick to make, especially if you have the basic Chinese ingredients already in your pantry. The mussels have a good spicy kick to them, mild heat from the chili but a pleasant balanced sweetness from the oyster sauce. The spring onions and radish add a refreshing taste in the end, these mussels make a regular week day feel more special! Ps. you can also add some large wedges of iceberg lettuce into the sauce to give it that authentic Chinese flavour and crunch.

Ingredients

• 1kg mussels
• 3 tsp grated ginger
• 3 tsp grated garlic
•  peanut oil
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 100 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tsp finely chopped chili
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 finely chopped shallot
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• optional: iceberg lettuce

Garnish: chopped radish slices, sesame oil & spring onions

Directions

On a large pan, heat the peanut oil and add the ginger, chili and garlic (optional add in the iceberg lettuce). Stir and add the sugar, oyster sauce & shaoxing rice wine. Stir around for about 2 minutes to let it reduce before adding the stock. Increase the heat and add in the mussels and cover the lid. Let them cook for some minutes until they have popped open. Then, reduce the heat slightly and add in the shallots, vinegar, soy sauce and let it cook for a couple of minutes to work the flavours together. Ready to plate: garnish the fresh radish, a drizzle of sesame oil and chopped spring onion.