Grilled Mussels in Coconut and Chili
Two kilos of mussels steamed open over the fire in white wine and coconut milk.
- calories
- 700
- weight
- 20 oz
- cal / oz
- 35
- protein
- 48 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 1000 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Fresh mussels | 2 kg | buy the day you cook them, keep them cold and loosely covered, never sealed in water |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 | |
| Celery stalks | 4 | |
| Fresh ginger | 50 g | |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | |
| Red chilies | 2 | |
| Butter | 2 tbsp | |
| White wine | half a bottle | about 375 ml |
| Coconut milk | 800 ml | canned, shakes up fine warm |
| Scallions | 2 | |
| Fresh cilantro | 1 bunch | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Sort the mussels first. Scrub off grit, pull the beards, and throw out any that stay open when you tap them. Sit them in a pot of clean cold water for 30 minutes while you build the fire.
- Chop the onion, celery, ginger, garlic, and one chili fine. Cut the second chili into thin rings and set it aside.
- Get a wide pot on the grate over medium coals. Melt the butter and cook the chopped vegetables until they go soft and glossy, five to eight minutes.
- Pour in the wine and let it boil down by half. This is the step people rush; do not.
- Drain the mussels, tip them in with the coconut milk, and turn them through the vegetables. Bring it up to a boil, put the lid on, and steam five or six minutes. Shake the pot once or twice.
- Lift the lid. The open ones are done. Discard anything still shut.
- Slice the scallions thin and scatter them over with the chili rings and torn cilantro. Salt and pepper at the end, not before, since the mussels bring their own salt.
This is a coastal car-camping dinner, and it stays that way for a reason. Live mussels need cold air and drainage, not a bag in a pack, so it only works when you can drive to the water and cook the same day you buy them. The rest of the ingredient list is stove-agnostic and happy over coals.
The cooking is two reductions and a steam. Wine boiled down by half concentrates the acid so the coconut milk has something to push against; skip that and the broth turns flat and sweet. The mussels then release their own liquor into the pot, which is why salt goes in last. Five minutes with a lid is enough — held longer, they tighten into rubber and the broth is all you have left worth eating.
Packing
Mussels ride in the cooler in a mesh bag over ice, not in meltwater, which drowns them. Chop the aromatics at home into one container so camp prep is one lid off. Cans and the wine bottle are heavy but this is a drive-in meal.
Variations
- Squeeze lime over the pot before serving. It cuts the coconut fat.
- Bread on the grate for the broth, which is the best part and otherwise goes in the dirt.
- For a pack-in version, skip the fresh mussels: two tins of smoked mussels, powdered coconut milk, dried onion and garlic, and chili flakes make the same broth in one pot with 400 ml of boiled water.
https://www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/kos/grillede-blaskjell-med-chili-og-kokos