Lemongrass Mussels with Papaya Relish
Ingredients
- For the relish
- 1 ripe Papaya
- 2 scallions
- 1 ½ centimeters fresh ginger
- 2 red chili peppers
- ½ red Bell pepper
- ½ bunch cilantro
- 1 organic Lime (juice)
- 2 Tbsps Corn oil
- salt
- freshly ground peppers
- Palm sugar
- For the mussels
- 2 kilograms mussels
- 2 sprigs Lemongrass
- 2 Tbsps vegetable oil
- 3 Lime leaves
- 200 milliliters unsweetened Coconut milk
- 2 Tbsps Fish sauce
- also
- cilantro (for garnish)
Preparation steps
For the relish: Halve the papaya, remove seeds and cut the flesh into small cubes and place in a bowl. Rinse the scallions shake dry and thinly slice on the diagonal. The ginger peel and grate finely. Rinse the chilies, slit lengthwise, remove the seeds and white ribs and finely chop. Rinse the peppers, halve lengthwise, remove the seeds and white ribs and cut into small cubes. Rinse the cilantro, shake dry, finely chop the leaves. Add the scallions, ginger, half the chilies, peppers, cilantro, the lime juice and the oil to the papaya and season with salt, pepper and palm sugar.
Scrub and rinse the mussels and remove their beards. Throw away the open shells. Rinse the lemongrass, remove the outer leaves and cut the lemongrass into thin rings. Peel the shallot and garlic, chop finely and saute along with the remaining chilies in a saucepan of hot oil. Add the mussels, lemongrass and lime leaves to the pan, toss briefly and pour in the coconut milk. Season with fish sauce, cover and cook over medium heat until the mussels open, about 5 minutes. Remove the mussels. Set 12 mussels aside and loosen the meat from the remainder of the shells. Layer the mussels meat with the papaya relish in jars, sprinkle to taste with a little of the mussel cooking liquid and serve garnished with the mussels in their shells and cilantro.
