Thai Style Mussels

Living with a Mussel freak (and not the gym kind!) means that they have become a regular feature on the dinner menu and at 2 euros a bag I can't really grumble. But I do tire of constantly eating the same things over and over, so when Moules Mariniére appeared a few times in a row the hunt for a new recipe was on. Thanks to BBC GoodFood we found this delicious, spicy, aromatic and coconut broth to douse them in. With lots of fresh coriander, chilli, garlic and ginger you certainly can't say it's lacking in flavour.

Ingredients:                             Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course

• 1kg mussels, cleaned
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1tsp minced lemongrass (you can use 1 stalk of fresh but I cannot find it here!)
• 2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
• 1 green chilli finely sliced (add more if you like it spicy)
• 1 large bunch of coriander with stalks
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled
• vegetable oil
• 400ml coconut milk
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 red chilli finely sliced

Method:

Finely chop the lemongrass, ginger, garlic, green chilli and coriander stalks (pick off the leaves and set aside for later) creating a rough paste.

Gently fry the onions in a large saucepan (big enough to hold all the ingredients and with a lid) over a low heat, when they start to soften, about 3-5 mins, turn up the heat to medium and add the paste. Fry for 1 minute then add the coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and bring it all to a simmer.

When nice and frothy add the mussels and cook for 5-7 minutes covering with a lid.
Serve the mussels and scatter with the coriander leaves and sliced red chilli (I forgot to pick up red chilli's so mine were decorated with green - very spicy indeed!), don't forget to pick up some nice crusty bread for that delicious sauce!