Before preparing mussels, they must be cleaned of sand and debris, taken away and discarded spoiled. If you do not do this, instead of useful delicacies, you will have a dish inedible and fraught with food poisoning.
Pick your recipe
You will need
- Mussels
- Cold fresh running water
- Two bowls
- Towel
- Dish brush
Instruction manual
1
It is extremely important to cook fresh mussels on the same day they were purchased. If you are not going to cook them immediately, then place in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and put in the refrigerator. The sooner you start cooking, the more shellfish will be alive, and therefore suitable for eating.
2
Take and discard damaged mussels, with chips and especially open sashes.
If the wings are slightly ajar, gently press them. Live mussel immediately tightly closed.
3
Pour cold fresh water into a wide bowl and soak the mussels in it to filter out the sand.
4
Prepare a slotted spoon, towel, dish brush, and a second bowl of water. Equip the workplace near the sink.
5
After twenty minutes, start using a slotted spoon, one at a time, to get the mussels.
Pay attention to the "beard" - a group of fibers that mussels cling to stones. Wrap it in a towel and pull it away from the mussel. If you pull inside the mollusk, you can damage it.
6
With a brush, under running water, clean the shells from the remaining debris.
Put the treated mussel in a bowl of clean water.
7
Remember that mussels do not become softer from prolonged heat treatment. Five minutes later, from the start of cooking, the mollusk will have aromatic meat, after twenty - hard and rubber.
8
The easiest way to cook mussels is to put in a pan, pour a glass of white wine or water, put on a fire and cover. It is important that the liquid does not cover the entire mollusk. They need to be steamed, not cooked.
9
Cook over medium heat, periodically shaking the pan. After five minutes, remove the lid and select mussels with ajar sashes. Mussels that remain closed should be discarded.
note
Mussels, by themselves, are quite salty, so they are never salted extra.
Useful advice
You can serve the mussels right there, or you can put them in a container and freeze them for up to three months.