Coconut Curry Mussels

This is a classic Southeast Asian style Coconut Curry Mussels recipe flavored with Red Curry Paste and Coconut Milk. The flavors are uniquely Thai, with powerful flavors of Lemongrass, Chili, Lime, and Fish Sauce bursting through the luscious and creamy Coconut Broth. This dish is very easy to make and only requires a handful of readily available ingredients. For how simple it is, you’ll be amazed at how sophisticated and huge the flavors are

How to make amazing homemade Coconut Curry Mussels

In this recipe we’ll share with you the step by step guide to making this wonderful recipe. The good news is there’s not that many steps! To summarize, once you have properly prepared your Mussels, simply cook down some Shallots in a large pot before adding some Red Curry Paste, Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, and Coconut Milk

Let that all cook down for about 10 – 15 minutes to develop their flavors and then in go the Mussels! The Mussels won’t take too long to cook. So, cover the pot with a lid and cook for about 4 – 5 minutes and they’ll be done!

You can check if the Mussels are done so easily. All you need to do is see if they have opened up. Once they open, they’re cooked! It’s as simple as that. I like to check the cooking of the Mussels every minute, as sometimes they’ll take less time or more time to cook

Some Mussels may not open. If this is the case you cannot eat them as they will not be good. It’s ok though, they won’t harm the broth. So simply remove them before serving and you’ll be good to go! The final step in prepping this simple meal is to hit the broth with some Fresh Lime Juice and then garnish with Cilantro and Chili. Then it’s ready to eat!

You can make your own Curry Paste from Scratch, but we recommend simply using one from the store

Making your own Red Curry Paste involves a lot of work. You’ll be grinding up spices and aromatics and then cooking them all down. It’s actually a lot more affordable (and way easier) to simply use the store bought Curry Paste. They are of very high quality these days and help cut out a lot of leg work in this dish

The Coconut Curry Mussels require about 2 tbsp. of Red Curry Paste. A typical jar you buy from the store would have much more than is required for this recipe. Once opened, refrigerate the Curry Paste and it’ll last for months, so you can make this dish time and time again, or try many other amazing dishes using Red Curry Paste. Our Thai Red Curry Chicken Recipe is one that we highly recommend!

How to properly prepare Mussels

In my cases you will need to do a little bit of prep to the Mussels before they are ready to be cooked. The first step is to place them in a big bowl filled with cold water and allow them to soak for at least 30 minutes. The Mussels will likely be carrying a lot of seawater in them, so this step helps to remove as much of that as possible

Trust us, you don’t want seawater in the dish! I recommend giving them a soak for about 20 minutes, then straining them and soaking with fresh water. You can do this a few times if you like to ensure as much seawater is removed

While soaking them, this is a good time to ‘de-beard’ them. You may have heard this term before. De-bearding is simply removing the stringy beard-like pieces that often stick out from the Mussels. These are what the Mussels use to stick to rocks in the ocean. They’re not pleasant to eat, so try to remove as much as you can from the Mussels

Once you’ve properly soaked and de-bearded the Mussels they will be ready to cook! I like to prepare all the other ingredients in this dish while they’re soaking to save a little bit of time

Making the Broth is so easy

The Broth is always the unsung hero in Mussels, and in our Coconut Curry Mussels dish I truly think it is the star. Rich sweet, sour, and spicy flavors are offered up in droves in this meal, and the thickness that the Coconut Milk brings to the table adds a sense of luxury to the whole dish

There are very few ingredients needed to make this broth, but all of them do some serious heavy lifting. The Red Curry Paste is loaded with flavors from SE Asia, notably Lemongrass which is so prominent and tasty in this curry

Along with the Paste we add Coconut Milk, Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, and Lime Juice. This combination of flavors is very typical to Thai Cuisine, especially in Coconut Based Curries. The Mussels drink up all of that amazing Curry sauce when they are cooked, and the Mussels Shells act almost like mini bowls to carry the Broth!

To finish the dish, you should always serve Mussels with some crusty Bread. We just used some Sourdough bread bought from the local grocery store. We generously applied Olive Oil to both sides then pan-fried it until charred. The bread makes for a perfect vessel to mop up any leftover broth once you’ve devoured those tasty Mussels

Coconut Curry Mussels Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. Fresh Mussels
• 400ml Coconut Milk
• 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp. Fish Sauce
• Juice of 2 Limes
• ½ cup Cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 Red Chili, diced
  
  

Instructions

1. Soak the Mussels in cold water for 30 minutes, straining once or twice. While soaking, remove any beards from the Mussels and discard
2. Heat the Oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add the Shallots and cook for 5 minutes until tender
3. Add the Red Curry Paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring into the Shallots
4. Pour in the Coconut Milk, Soy Sauce, and Fish Sauce. Cook for 10 minutes. Avoid boiling the liquid, so turn down the heat slightly if needed
5. Strain the Mussels and add them into the Pot. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the Mussels open. Discard any Mussels that don’t open
6. Add Lime Juice, Cilantro, and Red Chili. Mix well and then serve with Sourdough Toast to mop up the Broth
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can begin to prepare the broth while the Mussels are soaking in water to reduce the overall time it takes to prepare this dish
• Coconut Cream can be used instead of Coconut Milk for a thicker, richer broth
  
  

That’s our simple and amazingly tasty recipe for Homemade Coconut Curry Mussels. The strong flavors of Southeast Asia are evident in this wonderful dish. You’ll be so amazed at the flavors given how easy it is to make

If you enjoy this recipe then you’re in luck! We’ve got loads of delicious Asian-inspired dishes for you to choose from. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Lime Coconut Fish Soup
• Spicy Asian Poached Chicken Salad
• Salt and Pepper Squid
• Szechuan Kung Pao Chicken
  
  

Happy Cooking!