This is a quick, easy and great starter, but works equally well as a snack - serve with a cold beer.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- FOR THE DIPPING SAUCES
- 150ml /5 fl.oz mayonnaise - either home-made or good shop bought
- 100ml / 3 1/2 fl.ozcreme fraiche
- 3 tbsp coarse-grained mustard
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro/ coriander
- Juice 1 lime
- 1/2 red chilli, de-seeded and finely minced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- FOR THE MUSSELS
- 1kg/ 2 1/4 lbs mussels, scrubbed & de-bearded
- 300ml/ 10 fl.oz very cold beer or lager
- 225g / 8oz self raising flour
- Sea salt & ground black pepper
- Sunflower or peanut oil for deep frying
- 25g/ 1 oz cornstarch/cornflour
Preparation:
- First make the dipping sauces: mix together the mayonnaise and creme fraiche. Divide this mixture between two bowls.
- To one, mix in the coarse-grained mustard and honey. To the other, add the coriander, lime, chilli and garlic. Taste both for seasoning. Set aside.
- Place the mussels in a large, lidded saucepan with a few tablespoons of water.
- Steam over a high heat until the mussels have opened. Discard any that remain closed. Drain in a colander, then pick the meat from the shells, set aside.
- Sift the self-raising flour into a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. Start whisking in the beer until you have a batter the consistency of single cream.
- Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or large pan. Be careful not to fill more than one third full. Heat to 180c or until a cube of bread sizzles and turns golden in 30 seconds.
- Meanwhile, dry the mussels carefully on kitchen towel then dredge with sifted cornflour. Shake off the excess cornflour then dip into the beer batter allowing the excess batter to drip off.
- Fry in batches of around 10 until golden brown (about 1-2 minutes). Transfer with a slotted spoon to crumpled paper towels to drain.
- Serve immediately with dipping sauces.
Recipe courtesy of Loch Fyne
