Mussels in Soup

Name: Mussels in Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: Small bunch cilantro leaves for garnish, trimmed; White pepper to taste; 2-3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 1 large onion, roughly chopped; ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste; 1 cup white wine (preferably Sauternes) or cider; 4 tablespoons vegetable oil; 2½-3 pounds mussels; 1½-2 inches fresh ginger, sliced, peeled, and well bruised; 2 shallots, roughly chopped

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Homestyle Chinese Cooking

By Yan-Kit So

Published 1997

About

The wok, with its wide hemispherical shape, is most conducive to cooking mussels, for it allows plenty of room for the mussels to cook and open quickly, and thus stay very juicy. If you like the taste of ginger at all, you will find the accompanying soup, marked by a subtle ginger and wine flavor, agreeable indeed.

Ingredients

2½-3 pounds mussels
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2-3

Asia
China
Pescatarian
Soup
Gluten-free

Method

Scrub and wash the mussels thoroughly, one by one, until they are very clean. Pull off the “beards” between the shells and knock off the barnacles with the back of a knife. Discard any mussels that are broken or remain open when you tap them. Put in a colander to drain.
Heat the wok over a high heat until smoke rises. Add the oil and swirl it around several times. A