Mussels in White Wine and Garlic
The standard white wine and garlic treatment, with a spoon of white miso for body. Twenty minutes, one pot, and the broth is the reason you make it.
- Serves
- 4
- Total
- 25 min
This is the classic and I haven't improved it. I have added one thing: a spoonful of white miso, whisked into the broth at the end.
Mussel broth is thin by nature. Wine, shallot and the liquor from the shells, and it tastes bright and a little hollow. Miso gives it body and depth without announcing itself, and nobody has ever guessed it's in there.
If it's not right
- Thin broth: that's what the miso is for. Add it, taste again.
- Rubbery mussels: left in the pot too long after they opened.
- Gritty: not rinsed enough, and wild mussels need more rinsing than farmed.
- Bland: salt last, after the miso, because miso brings its own.
Ingredients
Method
-
**Clean them.** Rinse under cold water, scrub any that need it, and pull off the beards. Tap any open one against the counter; if it closes, it's alive and it's fine. If it stays open, throw it out.
-
**Butter in a wide pot,** shallots until soft, 3 or 4 minutes. Garlic for another minute.
-
**Wine in,** bring to a boil, and let it go a minute to cook off the raw edge.
-
**Mussels in, lid on, high heat.** Five to seven minutes. Shake the pot once halfway.
-
**They're done when they're open.** Throw out any that stayed shut.
-
**Mussels out into bowls** with a slotted spoon, so they stop cooking.
-
**The miso.** Whisk it into a ladle of the hot broth until smooth, then stir it back into the pot. Off the boil.
-
Broth over the mussels, parsley, black pepper, bread.
Goes with
From the journal
- Make the Fish — Fish is one of the things people reserve for restaurants, and it shouldn't be. It's fresher at home, it's faster than almost anything else, and the fishmonger is the best part.
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