Fried Mussels with Ginger Miso Dipping Sauce
There haven’t been many times that I’ve eaten something at a restaurant and been inspired to create my own version of it. The first time was in Fort Worth, Texas, and the restaurant was Celebration, which served a cucumber dressing that drove me to try for years to perfect a cucumber dressing of my own.
The second time was in Baltimore, Maryland, at a restaurant called Atlantic, which served a divinely seared piece of tenderloin of ahi tuna coated with bacon that had been fried and ground up. After moving to Oregon, we discovered Oregon albacore tuna, and I perfected a bacon-crusted and seared albacore tuna with a pomegranate reduction sauce.
The third was recently when I ate battered and fried mussels for the first time at Andaluz, a tapas restaurant right here in Salem. Chef David Rosales’ version had a light coat of flour and was served with a garlic aioli sauce. It was such a delicious way to enjoy mussels that I was inspired to create my own version. Preferring a more substantial batter, I played around until I came up with a recipe that was a combination of batter and breading and remained crispy-crunchy after frying, along with a more tangy, Japanese-inspired sauce based on miso.
Fried mussels with ginger miso dipping sauce, a wonderful way to enjoy mussels.
Fried Mussels with Ginger Miso Dipping Sauce
This dish is simple to make and is a great appetizer. Think of them as mussel poppers! They’ll disappear in a flash.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml.) peeled and finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml.) miso
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml.) mirin
- 1 tablespoon(15 ml.) ponzu
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml.) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml.) toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml.) water
- Two dozen mussels, scrubbed, rinsed and de-bearded
- 1 cup (24o ml.) all-purpose white flour
- 2 cups (480 ml.) milk
- 4 cups (.95 l.) oil for frying
- 2 cups (480 ml.) seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
Method
- Make dipping sauce by pounding the chopped ginger in a mortar and pestle until pulverized and scoop into small bowl. Add miso, mirin, ponzu, sugar, sesame oil, water and thoroughly mix and set aside until ready to serve with mussels.
- Steam mussels until they open. Turn off flame and remove the flesh of each mussel from its shell and set the mussel flesh aside in a small bowl.
- Prepare batter by mixing together flour and milk.
- Heat oil in small saucepan.
- Working with one piece at a time, dredge mussels in the batter mix, roll them around in the breadcrumbs to coat them evenly, then deep fry until golden brown.
- Serve mussels with dipping sauce.
Enjoy!
— Vic
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PDFCategory: Appetizers, Seafood
About the Author (Author Profile)
Victor Panichkul is a journalist and writer by training; a cook, wine lover and photographer by passion; and a lover of the outdoors since moving to Oregon more than 10 years ago. He is a native of Bangkok, Thailand.
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Those mussels look fantastic.