Mussels with Salsa

There are some foods that seem really awkward to eat and cook, and in my opinion, a lot of them are in the seafood category. Like shrimp, are you going to get it deshelled when you start cooking? You have to leave the tail, there's that horrifying vein fact that everyone knows. For a while, I also thought mussels were awkward and weird to cook. Theyre just...a shell, and you see tiny little ones on rocks at the beach. I'll also let you in on a secret and tell you that for a long time I totally hated cooked fish (I've always loved sushi) and just thought it wasn't for me. LB is still of this opinion and I don't think I'll ever change his mind.

But the thing that got me back into seafood in a big way was mussels. This is definitely another Chilean Grandma recipe (Happy Birthday, Grandma!) that was prepared for me one winter break and I got absolutely hooked. Apparently Chileans typically eat mussels raw which is a little too intense for me, but this recipe is super refreshing and light and doesn't have a strong "seafood" taste that a lot of people are averse to.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Water
1 lb Mussels
1 1/2 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Black Pepper
1 Tomato
1 Clove Garlic
2 "stalks" Green Onion
~1/4 cup Cilantro
2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

First, what I like to do is pour the water into a large pot and put it by the sink. Then you have to wash or scrub the mussels as you're putting them in the pot. Important! When you're washing off individual mussels, see if the mussels are clamped shut. If they aren't, put them aside and maybe knock them around a little, next to the pot. Then when you're done scrubbing the mussels (also, pull out the "beards" of the mussels, the stringy things coming out of it) look back at the mussels you put aside. You'll find quite a few of them have clamped shut because they were like, "Hey, who's this jerk knocking me around? I'd better clamp shut so they don't eat me." Unfortunately for them, this has only sealed their fate. The ones that are still open are probably dead, and you don't want to cook mussels that are not completely fresh.

Now take the pot over to the burner, and pour in the salt and pepper and set the stove to low-medium. Note: You know that random trivia you know about how lobsters "scream" when they're boiled alive, but in fact it's air escaping from their shell? The same thing happens with mussels. I don't really think it sounds like "screaming" but there definitely is a noise as the mussels heat up. But while I might find this a little horrifying when cooking an animal with eyes, let's face it, mussels don't exactly have a lot of personality. Don't feel guilty!

While the mussels are cooking, get a bowl and chop up the green onion, tomatoes, garlic, and cilantro. Mix them up with the apple cider vinegar and olive oil.

Every once in a while, look back at the mussels. They'll start to open up! The bad news is that means you've killed them. The good news is they're delicious! When they're all done opening up (or mostly all done, as I'll explain later), take them off the heat quickly so they don't get to be a weird rubbery, unpleasant texture. Expect them to be any color from pink to orange (even a bright salmony orange color!). Then put the salsa you've just made on the mussels! This is way easier if you take off the top shell, which is easy.

But, as you're taking off the top shells, you'll notice not all of the mussels opened all the way. With the ones that are basically impossible to take the top shells off with just your hand, I like to throw those away too because that's also a sign of them having already been dead. You don't want to take chances with not fresh seafood!

With mussels, I often just eat them on their own, as a sort of appetizer (but enough to make it a meal). Tonight, I put it over a bed of pasta and I actually got pretty dang full. It helped that I only had to throw away about three mussels, as opposed to the first time I made mussels where I had to throw away almost half the bag!

Another important note is that when you're buying mussels, if you aren't planning on cooking them that day, wrap them in a damp towel and that'll keep them alive. But that's what I did the first time and they died anyway because I didn't regularly dampen the towel. Just getting the mussels day-of is a much easier way to go, I think. Seriously you guys, this is sooo easy and so delicious and it looks pretty impressive too! Like something you'd see at a legitimate restaurant!