This dish is a one-pot wonder!
Ingredients
Serves: 4 – prepared in a pot
- 1kg mussels – cleaned and debearded
- 1kg surf clams (crab, prawns, crayfish or lobster will also do)
- 2 shallots – finely diced
- 2 red peppers – finely diced
- 2 green peppers – finely diced
- 3 red chillis – finely diced
- 100gr fresh ginger – peeled and finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic – diced
- 1 teaspoon Five Spice
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 bunch of coriander – roughly chopped (including stems)
- 1 large/300gr sweet potato – peeled and diced
- Splash sunflower/Irish rapeseed oil
Optional:
- Toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil or tahini
- Orange and aniseed stock
- Peel of two oranges
- 200ml Pastis or Vermouth
- 300ml water
- 100ml distilled vinegar
- Cucumber yoghurt
Note: For those with delicate palates, a cucumber and yoghurt dip will quell some of that heat from the chilli; should be sharp, creamy and cooling.
- 200ml natural yoghurt
- 1 cucumber - peeled, seeded and finely diced
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Salt and white ground pepper to taste
Method
- Make the stock by simply adding all the stock ingredients together.
- Place in a sealed container and leave until needed for a minimum an hour, preferably overnight. The aniseed and orange flavours in the stock are a perfect foil for the spices.
- Prepare the cucumber yoghurt by combining all ingredients in a bowl and place in a fridge until ready to serve.
- Heat a high sided pan or wok, adding a splash of neutral oil such as sunflower or Irish rapeseed oil – don’t use Extra Virgin Olive Oil as it has a low burn point – and then add the sweet potato, shallots, peppers and spices and toss in the oil.
- Add mussels and clams and coat in the spice and vegetable mix. Add the stock taking care to remove the orange peel!Then add the chilli, ginger and garlic.Cover with a tight-fitting lid and wait 3 minutes for all the molluscs to open.
- Remove the lid, checking that all the seafood has opened, add the chopped coriander, season to taste with the optional garnish of toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil or tahini.
- Serve in bowls with the cucumber yoghurt on the side, and enjoy with a cold beer.
