Sunday 30 March 2008

Spicy hot bean mussels

This recipe has been adapted from my grandmother's recipe for fried lala (clams). As lala is not available in the UK, I use fresh mussels for this dish. Mussels are relatively cheap here, you can get them for about £2 per kg.
Free Image Hosting at allyoucanupload.com


Also worth noting that we can get something like lala here too, but it looks different. Look at this picture.. on the outside, it looks like a blood clam (see hum), but once opened, it looks like lala. They cost similar to mussels but I dont use these often because the shells are dirtier and takes a lot of scrubbing before I can fry them whole.
Free Image Hosting at allyoucanupload.com

This dish is simply:
- chillies
-onions
- garlic
- capsicum
- hot bean sauce (chilli meen see)
- cornflour to thicken sauce so that it sticks to he mussels

Method:
Fry onions, chillies, garlic, capsicum and hot bean sauce.
Then add cleaned and de-bearded mussels and cook till all shells are opened.
No need to add water as mussel will have its own juice.
Then little bit of cornflour mixture to thicken.
Soy sauce / Salt / sugar / pepper to taste.

13 comments:

JOjo said...

Lala too small, mussels better =p

HairyBerry said...

looks good...wonder if it'll taste good with pasta, some chinese wine and some parsley...

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

looks like u hav recovered well to hav start eating seafood n all!

weiwei said...

hi..the ramen is at ss2 there.. near the ss2 murni..or Mcdonald^^

tigerfish said...

I would have preferred lala too! But it's ok.....as long as the mussels are fresh. Spicy hot bean is a good way to have this shellfish :D

ling239 said...

the mussels are so orangy...
yummy !!

Anonymous said...

look yummy...can try cook on this weekend...

daphne said...

i do like chili mussels! Especially with garlic bread!

The other version white wine and cream is lovely as well but can't eat that often!

Sugar Bean said...

Wow, replacing lala with mussels, sounds like a good idea and it's much healthier.

Hazza said...

jojo,
I agree! U need 4 lalas for a mouthful!

nic,
fresh shellfish would be great anyway, in my books!

joe,
I think its more of a chinese thing about shellfish being bad for you .."tuk" (poisonous), isnt it? Western medicine is different. In hospital, I could even have a prawn mayo sandwich if I wanted one.

weiwei,
thatnk. will keep that in mind.

tigerfish,
I dont have a preference over the two, but I dont have a choice here :(

ling,
I think the colour is because its fresh and also the variety.

squall,
please tell me the result!

daphne,
we can buy the white wine version frozen here, just heat and eat, but not so good cuz not fresh.

wenching,
I didnt know mussels is healthier. I thought only see hum that is really bad for you.

teckiee said...

SEE HAM!!!!!!!!!!! I ate half a plate if see ham onces... totally loved it! But you know what happened a few days after that? ... I had boils. Too much 'poison' for the kidney to filter.

Unknown said...

Wow, the mussels look wonderful, and a good price too! Since I live so far inland, mussels (if I can get them) are about $7-10/lb (or just about L7-10/kg). Your mussels remind me of the ones I ate in Brussels!

The photo of the clams is very nice! How did you do that?

Hazza said...

teckiee,
I love see ham too, but I am always hesitant at eating too many as I have heard about more serious health risks. I heard its banned in China.

lannae,
The photo of the clams was taken from the net. Not mine.