At a recent blogger function I mentioned to some fellow bloggers an Iranian dish I recently cooked and commented that perhaps the term, Middle Eastern, didn't really cover all the regional differences peculiar to the area.

Every single blogger of Asian heritage within earshot chimed in with 'We know what you mean!'

I was going to call this dish Asian inspired mussels, but I've learnt my lesson



It was a dish thrown together with items from the store cupboard along with uncooked mussels left over from the last Good Friday. Since it was Easter with plenty of feasting planned, something light and tasty was all that was required.

With some plain steamed rice to soak up all the vibrant of-the-sea juices, this fitted the bill perfectly.

Thai Style Mussels
(serves 4 entree size)

1kg mussels
100ml water
1 chicken stock cube
1 shallot, diced
3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed
2.5cm piece ginger, finely grated
2 or 3 bird's eye chillies, chopped
2 teaspoons fish sauce
fresh ground pepper, salt not required
1 lime, juiced
2 spring onions, sliced on diagonal
several stalks coriander, chopped

Debeard and scrub the mussels, set aside.

In a small pot, add the water, chicken stock cube, diced shallot, crushed garlic, grated ginger, chopped chillies, fish sauce and a good grind of pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.

Heat a large pot until very hot, throw in the mussels and the chicken stock liquid, then immediately put on the lid. After 1 minute give the pot a good shake, boil hard for another minute then remove any opened mussels. Continue to cook until all the mussels are opened, but no longer than a minute more. Any mussels that don't open can be discarded, but equally, they can be eaten, sometimes good mussels don't open. Add the lime juice to the cooking juices.

Put all the cooked mussels into a large bowl and garnish with the sliced spring onions and chopped coriander, pour over the cooking juices.

Serve with some plain steamed rice.