Mussels, as one of the most delicious mollusks, are known for their beneficial properties and nutritional value. These seafood contains amino acids, proteins that contribute to the production of melanin, reduce fat, which has a beneficial effect on the adrenal glands, thyroid gland and pituitary gland. Mussels can be added to salads, soups, boiled, fried and baked with any ingredients.
Pick your recipe
Tasty, aromatic and healthy mussels will turn out, but for this you need to choose the right seafood. Frozen mollusks should not have cracks or other defects that indicate that the product has already thawed. Mussels should be light in color. It turns out juicy and tasty if you cook it from large mussels.
People have been eating mussels for about 70 thousand years, as evidenced by archaeological finds. Until the middle of the XIX century. the French considered mussels food for the poor.
Mussels are an excellent filter of natural water, so when using shellfish grown in ecologically dirty regions, you can be poisoned.
Defrost frozen peeled mussels and then rinse under running water, as sand may be in the mollusks. Fried mussels go well with white dry wine or ouzo. You will need:
- 300 g of peeled mussels;
- 100 ml of white wine;
- chicken egg - 1 pc.;
- 3 tbsp. l premium wheat flour;
- 100 ml of sunflower oil;
- lemon - 1 pc.;
- edible salt, black pepper (to taste).
Rinse the mussels well under running cold water, pat dry on a paper towel and lay on a cutting board. Sprinkle the seafood on top with wheat flour, then turn over and sprinkle again. Mussels need to be sprinkled with flour so that they can be easily breaded later.
Make a clam batter. In a deep bowl, beat the chicken egg with a whisk to form a foam. Do not forget to salt the egg mass and add black ground pepper to your taste. Pour white dry wine into a bowl and whisk again, then pour 1 tsp. flour. The result is a batter that looks like a batter.
In the future, you can evenly pour the mussels with batter or put the clams in a batter and mix well. After that, let the batter drain from the mussels.
Pour refined, refined vegetable oil into a stewpan and put on high heat. At the moment when the butter begins to crackle, you can put the mussels. Separate the mussels immediately with a fork so that they do not stick together. Keep the fire to a minimum and continue to fry for 4-5 minutes, then turn over and fry on the other side for another 5 minutes.
Mussels must be fried until dark golden and served hot and crispy. Transfer the seafood to the plates from the stew-pan and pour the squeezed lemon juice on top. Fried mussels go well with scordalla pasta or walnut sauce, and are served with cold beer or white wine.
Original and tasty is a mussel risotto, for the preparation of which you will need:
- 200 g of mussels;
- 200 g of rice;
- 2 tbsp. l olive oil;
- onions - 1 pc.;
- garlic - 1 clove;
- 500 ml of chicken stock;
- 100 g of champignons;
- 30 g of hard cheese;
- edible salt, black pepper (to taste);
- basil - 1 bunch.
Defrost the mussels, rinse, dip in boiling salted water and cook for about 2 minutes, then fill with cold water and bring to a boil again. The best indicator that mussels have been cooked is the foam that covers the entire surface. Remove the clams.
Risotto, which translates as "little rice", began to cook Italian peasants in the XV century. Instead of meat, they used broth, added butter, cheese and pieces of fish.
Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the mussels for 4-5 minutes.
Cut the mushrooms into slices, cook until tender in salt water, remove and transfer to the mussels, then fry for another 7 minutes. Do not forget to salt and add pepper.
In a frying pan for risotto, heat the oil, put the garlic crushed in a garlic crusher, which must be fried for 2-3 minutes. Pour the washed rice into the pan and mix so that the oil completely envelops the rice. Warm the rice to a clear color, then pour the wine.
Boil the risotto until the alcohol evaporates. Now you can gradually pour in the hot chicken stock.
It takes about 25-30 minutes to cook the risotto. Rice should not boil.
Add mushrooms and mussels 5 minutes before cooking. Remove the finished dish from the heat and let it sit for a while.
Risotto should be sprinkled with grated cheese and finely chopped basil.