[ ./recipes/mains/quick-mussels-sambal.md ]
★ INDONESIAN · MAINS
A Quick and Easy Pot of Mussels with Sambal.
SERVES
2
TOTAL
20m
ACTIVE
20m
LVL
EASY
// SUMMARY
The whole thing is on the table in about fifteen minutes: aromatics sweated, mussels in, deglazed with white wine and sambal manis, lid on for a minute, butter stirred through and finished with lime and parsley. No stock, no cooking liquid, no sauce made in advance — the fastest mussel recipe in the book.
// INGREDIENTS
| 2 | tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 | tbsp | shallot, finely chopped |
| 1 | tbsp | garlic, minced |
| 1 | tbsp | fresh ginger, peeled and minced |
| 4 | tbsp | celery, finely chopped |
| 500 | g | mussels |
| 1 | makrut lime leaf | |
| 100 | ml | white wine |
| — 1½ tbsp sambal manis (Indonesian sweet chilli condiment) | ||
| 1 | tbsp | salted butter |
| 1 | lime, zest and juice | |
| 2 | tbsp | flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped |
| — Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper | ||
// METHOD
- 01
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, garlic, ginger and celery and let them sweat briefly.
- 02
When the pan is nice and hot, add the mussels and the makrut lime leaf and season with pepper.
- 03
Deglaze with the white wine and the sambal.
- 04
Cover immediately and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until all the mussels have opened.
- 05
Stir in the butter until the sauce has thickened.
- 06
Finish with the lime zest and juice and the parsley.
// NOTES
- — Get the pan properly hot before the mussels go in. With a cook time this short there is no margin — a lukewarm pan means the wine never reduces and the sauce stays thin.
- — The butter is the sauce. Stir it in off the fierce heat and keep moving so it emulsifies with the wine and mussel juices instead of splitting.
- — Sambal manis, not oelek — it is sweet as well as hot, and the sweetness is doing structural work here against the lime. With oelek, use 1 tbsp plus a teaspoon of brown sugar.
- — Salt carefully. The mussels release plenty of their own; taste at the end and you may need none at all.
- — Serve with bread for the sauce, or fries. There is not much liquid, so bread is better than a bowl.
- — Discard any mussel that stayed shut after the minute is up.
// VARIATIONS
- → Coconut: replace half the wine with coconut milk for a rounder, curry-adjacent version.
- → More heat: add a sliced red chilli with the aromatics.
- → Herbier: swap the parsley for coriander and add a handful of Thai basil at the end.
// SOURCE
- Sergio Herman — Mussels