Mussel and Lemon Grass Soup

Name: Mussel and Lemon Grass Soup
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 250 ml (8 fl oz) Home-made Fish Stock; 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger; 3 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry; 3 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry; 1.5 kg (3 lb) fresh live mussels, well scrubbed; 3 lemon grass stalks; 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped shallots; 2 small onions, quartered; 3 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 3 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground five-pepper mixture or white pepper; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 sprigs of flatleaf parsley 3 sprigs of fresh coriander; 3 sprigs of flatleaf parsley 3 sprigs of fresh coriander; 1 bay leaf; 2 tablespoons (25 g/1 oz) butter; 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives, to garnish; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground five-pepper mixture or white pepper; 250 ml (8 fl oz) double cream

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Ken Hom Travels with a Hot Wok

By Ken Hom

Published 1997

About

This is my fusion version of a classic French mussel soup which is made from the broth in which the mussels have been cooked. The briny sea flavour, combined with zesty lemon grass, makes this easy-to-make soup an elegant start to any meal.

Ingredients

3 lemon grass stalks
1.5 kg (3 lb) fresh live mussels, well scrubbed

Europe
France
Starter
Soup
Fish course
Gluten-free
Pescatarian
Mediterranean

Method

Peel the lemon grass stalks to the tender, whitish centres and crush them with the flat of a knife. Then cut them into 7.5 cm (3 in) pieces.

Put the lemon grass, mussels, onions, shallots, ginger, fish stock, rice wine or sherry, parsley, coriander, butter, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper in a large pan and cook over a high heat for 8 minutes or until all the mussels have opened. Disca