Mussles in Tom Yum Broth

You may have figured by now, I love a good Tom Yum. With Prawn, with Fish, with all manner of Seafood, but also with Oxtails or even with Pork Knuckle. I don't even mind a simple Vegetarian Mushroom version. 

Just a few days ago I had the pleasure to revisit all my favorite Thai Restaurants In Male in the Maldives.

Still undefeated is of course Sala Thai Restaurant with its crisp clean and perfectly balaced flavour as well as the biggest Prawns, freshest Crab and prettiest Squid Curls. 

Today however I found myself wanting both a bowl full of fresh Mussels with chunky Bread to dip in or a Tom Yum of sorts. So I fused the two and made a Bowl of Mussels in a Tom Yum Broth with Chunky Bread to dip in!

I started by pounding 3 stalks of chopped Lemongrass (tender part only) with an inch of chopped Galangal and 3 hot chopped Chillies in my new Pestle and Mortar. The very talented and quite opinionated SheSimmers convinced me in a recent article on her blog, that pounding releases the Essential oils in parts of the plant, that the blades of a food processor will never reach. If it doesn't pound smooth enough, one can always finish the paste off in a food processor... and everyone is happy.

Now the paste goes into a large pan with 300ml of water a good splosh of Thai Fish Sauce, Some sliced Spring Onion, a couple of sliced Mushrooms, a couple of halved baby Plum Tomatoes and a few Kaffir Lime Leafes. Bring Everything to a simmer then add a bagful of Cleaned Mussels. 

Remember if they don't close after tapping them, when fresh, throw them away. And if they don't open after cooking, throw them out as well. 

Cover with a lid and cook just as long as it takes for the Mussels to open up. About 3-4 minutes.

Pour everything into a large serving Bowl and squeeze over the juice of 1Lime and sprinkle with Coriander.

As I already mentioned a nice chunk of Crusty bread will soak up the juices beautifully. But a spoon for the broth also comes in handy. The mussels can of course only be eaten by hand!

Tom Yum with Fish and Magic Sauce

Here I am recreating one of the great dishes I have eaten on my foody tour to Bangkok. The Sauce I do not know the name of, but for me, it makes the dish. I had been going to this little gem of a Restaurant for the past couple of days and the people working there recognised me now. As my purpose for my visit to Bangkok was to taste the real Thai Food, I always ordered a couple of dishes, to get as much tasting done as possible. Not just because I'm greedy :-)

So one of the guys noticed how much I was enjoying the food and he came over with  this little dish  of green sauce.  He said: 'Add it to the Tom Yum' and with a grand gesture skywards:  'It will give it a lift!' 

What can I say,.I have to thank that nice man, it was the best discovery on the whole trip. Tom Yum will never be the same.

Ingredients for the Tom Yum:

1 whole cleaned large Gurnard, cut into chunky steaks

4 Lemongrass sticks, bruised and sliced into 1 inch pieces

1 small Galangal root, sliced

6 long dried roasted Chillies

2 long red fresh Chillies, crushed in a pestle and mortar

6 Kaffir Lime Leaves, torn

6 tbs Fish Sauce

2 Limes (juiced)

1 tbs Coriander stalks 

1 tbs Coriander Leaves

3 Mushrooms, quartered

3 Cherry Tomatoes, quartered

Place the Fish into a pot and cover with Water. Add the Fish Sauce, Galangal, Lemongrass, Dried Chillies, Kaffir Lime Leafes and Coriander Stalks and bring to a simmer. Do not cover the pot with a lid to keep the broth nice and clear.

Once simmering turn down the heat and cook until the fish is done (about 5-7 minutes). 

Lovingly remove any scum that rises to the top with a spoon.

Add the Tomatoes and Mushrooms and turn off the heat. Leave to rest for a minute or 2 before adding the crushed Chillies, Coriander leaves and Lime Juice, then serve straight away.

Crush the fresh Chillies in a pestle and Mortar, to release the colour and flavour.

Ingredients for The Magic Sauce:

Place into a Blender...

2 Limes (juice of)

1 tbs Fish Sauce

1 tbs Palm Sugar

2 tbs Coriander, fresh

...blitz until smooth and the Magic is done.

This is my new favourite condiment and it goes fantastically with fish :-)

I had my Tom Yum with some steamed Rice and Cucumber slices (they are for cooling down a mouth on fire)

To eat the Soup, place the Fish on your plate, remove the centre bone, then place the fish filet on top of the rice, add a spoonful of Magic Sauce and enjoy! 

Try adding a little Magic Sauce to the Soup also to give it the all important lift and fresh kick.