Day 46: restorative comfort

I actually intended to cook this one for Shellfish Saturday, but ended up cooking Nigella’s Thai Steamed Clams instead, so I postponed it until Sunday. Should you be interested, and have nothing better to do, then you can read all about that by visiting Day 45.

Sundays are often the days I am in most need of restoration, and I very much doubt I am alone here; it’s usually the day after the night before, the dread of Monday morning looms over our heads, and if - like me - you failed at your household chores on Saturday because a cookalong with a few bottles of wine was a much more appealing idea, then you are probably feeling guilty that the dusting, hoovering and bathroom cleaning remains undone for yet another day. Sunday is usually the day I indulge in everything that isn’t good for me: I get my fix of crisps and dip, biscuits and chocolate, full-fat soft drinks and then a roast dinner to boot (though the latter is not something I consider to be unhealthy). This is a total guilt-free indulgence, may I add. I do it rarely and it is never to an extent that could be considered disrespectful gluttony. Whilst it does provide great emotional comfort, I know that it doesn’t help achieve the perfect balance required for physical restoration. But I was very happy to find this balance in Nigella’s Southeast Asian Mussels.

Nigella’s Southeast Asian Mussels

While searching for Nigella mussel recipes I came across a YouTube clip from the Nigella Bites TV Show for Southeast Asian Mussels, which is exactly what I ordered the mussels for. So, I was somewhat perplexed when I couldn’t find the recipe in any book. I couldn’t find anything in Nigella Bites and the closest match I could find in How to Eat was for Thai-flavored Mussels. Although my geography is notoriously bad, I did know that they could very well be referring to the same thing, but the two minor differences that I did spot seemed to throw me: in How to Eat light stock and mirin are used, and on the Nigella Bites TV Show just water and sake are used. Someone not suffering from the consequences of overindulging on wine the day before - now feeling very delicate and sorry for themselves - would perhaps be able to move on from this conundrum quite quickly, but I found myself taking an inordinate amount of time trying to figure it out; one minute I was following How to Eat, the next I was following the show. Perhaps I was just over-complicating the process, I don’t know, but why on earth I spent so much effort replaying and re-reading is anyone’s guess.

After recovering from this self-inflicted kerfuffle, I focused on my original choice of the Southeast Asian Mussels; I won a bottle of sake at a conference in California a few years ago, and now seemed like as good a time as any to crack it open.

As I write and reflect on this, I shake my head in disbelief that I was so bemused between the use of mirin in one, and sake in the other; mirin is higher in sugar than sake, and noticeable lower in alcohol, but they are both rice wine. I did know this but in my delicate (albeit self-inflicted) state, it was not a realisation that came easily, or indeed at all to be fair.

At the time, I could make neither rhyme nor reason of what I found so difficult about deciphering the differences, or indeed the similarities between these recipes, but - despite that rather embarrassing, humiliating ordeal - I can say with conviction it was both a joy and a pleasure eating these mussels. That broth is divine.

Flavour musings

This is the restorative comfort one needs at the end of a strenuous week, and while I have no objections to preparing a roast dinner – quite the opposite actually – on occasion it is nice not to have to worry about it and to focus on much-needed rest before we need do it all again on Monday.

There was something wonderfully soothing and healing about eating this: I could feel the nutrients replenish my body, the aromas lift my spirit, and the umami-imbued, spicy broth reassuring me that everything is going to be okay.

I also need to talk about what I did with the leftovers; I picked the mussel meat from their shells, saved the broth and put them both in the fridge. The next day I made a Korean-style stew with garlic, tomato puree, gochujang paste, the leftover mussel broth, some spring onion batons and halved radishes, before tumbling in the mussels and heating through thoroughly. I ladled the mahogany-red liquid over black rice and persued to eat perhaps one of the greatest bowls of food I have ever had the pleasure, and honour, of eating. I cannot take credit for this creation - you can find a short “how-to” description for this on Nigella’s Instagram page (scroll back to early January 2021).