#7: Mussels with Soy Sauce, Ginger, Scallions, Garlic and Jalapeno

I really need to come up with better names for these recipes. Anyway, after a week and a half, I finally got around to cooking some more mussels. I wanted to go with an Asian theme this time. In the past, I have very much enjoyed marinating tuna in soy sauce, white wine, garlic, scallions, ginger and jalapenos. When used in subtle proportions, these tasty ingredients add a ton of flavor to seafood without overwhelming it. It seemed inappropriate to serve the mussels with bread, so I made some plain jasmine rice to soak up all of the mussels' delicious juices. To round out the meal, I made a cold salad consisting of strips of cucumber tossed with ginger-key lime vinegar, sesame seeds, salt and a small amount of soy sauce. I drank a nice cold glass of ginger ale with this meal, but a nice medium-dry Riesling would have been better.

2 lbs. Mussels, cleaned and debearded
6 Scallions, sliced thin
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tbsp. grated Ginger
1 Jalapeno, minced
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/2 cup Dry white wine
1 tsp. Fish sauce
1 cup Water
1 tbsp. Peanut oil
1/2 tsp. Salt

1) Heat peanut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.

2) When the oil is hot, add scallions, ginger, garlic and jalapeno. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

3) At wine, soy sauce and fish sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes.

4) Add water. When water begins to simmer, add mussels. Cover and steam for 6 minutes.

Serve with rice and cucumber salad.