15 Minute Thai Chilli Coconut Mussels

These mussels are one of speediest yet most delicious meals you could ever make. Mussels cook in less than 5 minutes and here they are combined with a fragrant Thai Coconut Soup or Tom Khar Gai!

Whenever we go out with friend Viggo and Louise, things inevitably turn to one topic: technology. This is because both Mr NQN and Viggo work in technology and most of their conversation revolves around new toys that have come out and what they can do with them. Like the other night.

Talk turned to Mr NQN's soup youtube channel videos. He has 9 subscribers now. We call him a youtube sensation and he enjoys pranking his friends with many "Due to popular demand" messages. We asked Louise and Viggo if they had subscribed and expressed shock and dismay when they hadn't.

"You should get in quick because the first ten subscribers get an "I Like Soup" t shirt!" I told them.

So now I have to design some soup t-shirts.

Honestly I have a bit of a surfeit of time to do this because dinner only took 10 minutes from beginning to end. Mussels are one of the best items to have for a quick summer dinner because they literally cook in about five minutes.

Usually I'm not sure if you are meant to drink the soup or liquid that the mussels come with because sometimes it is very salty but here you definitely can. In fact the coconut soup is one of the best parts. I based it on a Tom Khar Gai soup recipe that I got from a cooking class at Sri Panwa resort in Phuket where I spent four days at recently (stories to come up soon!). And when I saw some live black mussels at the fishmonger I put them both together to make dinner on a day that I was short of time. Because I was busy designing Soup T shirts ;)

So tell me Dear Reader, do you have any favourite 15 minute recipes? Do you cook mussels much? And would you subscribe to a youtube channel where you can watch a man eating soup?

Thai Chilli Coconut Mussels

Serves 2

Preparation time: 5-10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

• 500g/1.1lbs mussels, debearded
• 1.5 cups chicken stock
• 1.5 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup mushrooms, cleaned (brush off dirt) and sliced in half
• 1/4 cup green onions
• 1 stick lemongrass, pounded with the blunt end of knife and sliced on the diagonal
• 5 slices galangal
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1-2 red chillies, finely sliced (birds eye if you like it hot)
• A small handful coriander leaves and Thai basil leaves to serve

Step 1 - Heat the chicken stock and the coconut milk and add the mushrooms, green onions, lemongrass, galangal and cook for 2 minutes. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chillies and taste for flavour. I added some more lime juice and a touch of sugar to balance it.

Step 2 - Add the mussels and place the lid on the pot and cook for 3 minutes until the mussels have opened up. Discard any unopened mussels. Serve with extra herbs on top.