Mussels Round #2: Drenched in Sweet Chili Sauce

Wow, I have been really prolific with posting today.

As mentioned in my last post, I still had about a lb of mussels left. (I was honestly getting sick of them) I had to finish up the mussels before they go bad;it's best to cook them up within a day or two of buying them. As it is, I had to toss quite a few of them into the trash as some of them died in my refrigerator overnight. :( RIP mussels that I threw away, at least you managed to miss dying slowly while being cooked in my pot.

Yes, you don't have to tell me I have problems lol.

Also, as mentioned, I wanted this round of mussels to have more of an Asian flavor. I am missing home pretty badly lately for some reason..and food always comforts me.

So, on with the ingredients:

• Chili garlic paste
• Palm sugar
• 1 lime
• Minced garlic
• Basil leaves
• Dried whole chilies, chopped into big pieces
• Mussels
  

Here's a visual of some of the ingredients; minced garlic,dried whole chillies(chopped), fresh basil from my garden. Sorry for the browning leaves of basil..fall weather is coming and my poor basil plant is slowly dying. These are still good tho...smells very fragrant! I love the smell of basil.

Steps:

1. First, make the sauce. Depend on how saucy you like your dish, put as much chili garlic paste as you want into it. I used about 2 tbs of chilli garlic sauce and added about 1tbs of palm sugar to it. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar to it. Mix both till the palm sugar has dissolved in the chilli sauce. Then squeeze half a lime into the mix. For me, it turned out a little too sour with the lime, so I added a dash of soy to offset the flavor.
2. Heat up a deep skillet, or use a pot. Pour about two tbs of canola oil into it to heat up. Toss the garlic, dried chillies and cook till the garlic is lightly browned.
   
3. Add mussels into the pot. Give it a quick stir to coat with the oil and garlic and dried chilli. Squeeze the other half of lime into it and close a lid on it. Let it cook for a few minutes.
   
4. When you see the shells opening, toss in the chilli sauce concoction that you made in step 1. Toss to coat the mussels and close the lid to cook for about another minute. Then add the fresh basil.
5. Let the mussels cook for another minute or so till the basil leaves are slightly wilted. Then they are ready to serve.

I ate them with a side of arugula and baby cucumbers. Oh man, these mussels turned out even better than the wine version one of yesterday. I had leftovers from yesterday, which I finished off during lunch today over pasta. The one from tonight..I ATE IT ALL. The sauce was spicy and sweet and really hit the spot for me.

Instagrams because it makes everything look so good:D

Mussels

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Arugula drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar with local baby cucumbers

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Fantastic dinz!

The verdict: This version definitely beats the white wine version of yesterday. Even though the white wine version was tasty, it was more on the rich side. The sauce of today was what that really made the dish. I even saved the leftover sauce so I can maybe use it for noodle soup flavoring for lunch tomorrow. Don't believe me? Check this out:

Yeap, in a baby container. Don't want to waste that nice seafood flavor and all lols. Just look at the basil and garlic floating in it! Yumz...I am still craving the flavor in mouth. Can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow heh.