steaming mussels in a wok on the egg - thanks to sandbagger

mad max beyond eggdome

so, egghead sandbagger, who is handy dandy with a torch, sent me a wok ring for my large egg. ...this is a very cool toy. .. but it got me to thinking as i've always wanted to try mixing steam and smoke together, how could i steam open some mussels, and inject a little smoke all at the same time. . ..so here's what i did[p]first, i took a couple of bags of fresh maine mussels, de-bearded them, cleaned them, got rid of the dead ones. ...[p][p]now i set up a regular load of lump, w/ a chunk of guava wood, lit it right in the middle, and laid my cool new wok ring on the fire ring. ..[p][p]i poured about 1/2 bottle of white wine in the wok, then took the metal collander full of mussels and set it in the wok, then placed the whole thing in the wok ring over the fire. . .i didn't want to pre-heat the wok and wine as that's not the way you would typically do it on the stove, however, next time i think i would heat up the wok some first, then throw in the wine and mussels. ..[p][p]i kept the egg going hot enough to make the wine boil, and tried to close the vents enough to make sure it captured the steam. ..this proved tricky. ..i finally settled on taking a pot lid and placing it over the mussels for a few minutes to really capture the steam. . .i also squirted some fresh lemon juice over them about halfway through the cook . ..it took a little longer than normal (about 15 minutes) to get the mussels to really open up. ..[p][p]they stayed very moist though, picked up a nice amount of the smoke flavor (not too much though). ...and really tasted great. ..i poured some of the liquour from the wok over them (although i should have strained it first as it did contain some sand and i didn't wait for it to settle to the bottom - doh!). ...but the juices tasted great. ..also, next time i'd throw some garlic in with the wine as well . ..[p]all in all a good experiment. ...i think you could steam/smoke just about anything this way ...i'm thinking beer in the wok with a lobster in the collander next time. ..[p]and a big special thanks to SANDBAGGER for the great toy ...i see a lot of uses for it, and it fit everything perfectly. ..THANKS TOM!!!

Car Wash Mike

mad max beyond eggdome,
You are going to have to help me out a bunch. You got rid of the dead ones? Does that mean the others were cooked alive? I can get them here in Peculiar, but there are in fresh seafood case. I'm sure they aren't alive in there. Looks really good. Last time we had a conversation about something I couldn't find you sent me a nice package.
NO LIVE MUSSELS. LOL[p]Tom is one nice fellow, he helped me a lot on another project.[p]Mike[p]

mad max beyond eggdome

Car Wash Mike,
like with clams, you buy and cook mussels alive. . ..they take a little work though, you have to wash them multiple times under cold water to get rid of as much sand from them as possible. ...you test them to see if they are still alive by knocking them against the counter or sink. ..if the stay tightly closed they are ok. ...if they are open and won't close, discard them. ...on most of them, there will be a little 'beard' sticking out of the shell. ..you need to grab it tight and pull it out and discard it. ...when they cook, they open up . ...once cooked, again, discard any that didn't open. .. .in the ones i buy at the grocery, there is usually about 15 to 20% that get tossed. ..fortunately they aren't very expensive (at least not around here). ...i pay about 5 bucks for about 2 1/2 dozen. ...but then again, there isn't a lot there to eat either. ...its an acquired habit. ...[p]simple way to cook them is put them in a cold pot with about 1/2 bottle of wine and some garlic. ..cover a place on stove over high heat. ..they will steam open and be ready to eat in about 8 minutes. ...take the remaining liquid from the pot, strain the sand from it, put it on the stove at high heat to reduce it. ..throw a can of diced tomatoes in the liquid, add some more garlic . . .heat it up, then serve it over the mussels in large bowls. ..very delicious. .. .

Charbon

mad max beyond eggdome, Great pictures. I like mussels better than clams. Garlic,butter, wine is the way to go. Never had the mortality rate you are quoting. Do you think Chubby's small ring kit would allow one to use a peking pan to do the magic you write about? I haven't had the heart to char the pan but soon my resistance will break.

Seattle Todd

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]I've tried all sorts of 'tricks' to get rid of the sand as I make mussels and/or clams at least once a week up here in the PNW.[p]Best method I've found is to soak them for 20 minutes or so in heavily salted cold water, drain and rinse, do this again, and again at least 3 times. If I have more prep work to do I continue refreshing the shellfish until I'm ready for them. When you do the final rinse you have to rinse really well to make sure there's no residual salt on the shells which could ruin the final dish.[p]I read a really interesting take once about worrying about clams and mussels that don't open fully. Everyone says to discard them because they were dead but closed when you threw them in. Their point was that folks eat oysters raw all the time and they're shellfish. So you're eating some oysters that wouldn't open if you steamed them. That made some sense to me and ever since I've been prying open the 'bad' ones and eating them and haven't so far gotten sick.

Sandbagger

mad max beyond eggdome, That looks great. I am going wok chicken marsala this weekend with the Floiri wine Chubby and WDan suggested. Maybe shrimp scampi too. Happy woking. Tom[p]

mad max beyond eggdome

charbon,
i'm not sure i know what a peking pan is??. ..but any pan that can handle the direct heat on a stove top, i see no reason it can't stand the heat inside the egg. . .chubby's device, if i recall correctly has a "setting" that allows you to get close to the fire as well, so i see no reason it wouldn't work fine.. . go ahead, give it a try.. .

mad max beyond eggdome

tom[p]ita a great tool, and i really appreciate it. .. i plan to do some traditional woking as well. .. .my wife loves sechuan string beans.. . they ought to be good done in the wok in the egg. ..[p]best[p]max

fishlessman

mad max beyond eggdome,
thats a nice setup with the wok, i see one in my future. mussels are a favorite around here, pick them off the rocks all the time.a little nervous about it this year though, red tide is already here and its going to be one of the worst years in rescent history. did dig and eat clams through the last outbreak though and nobody i know got sick.[p]we fry up some portuguese chourico and saute up some onions, add some garlic and deglaze the pan with wine. add some chef cut stewed tomatoes and bring to a boil. lay the mussels on top and steam them till they open. discard the ones that dont open.one bad clam or mussel and your feast is over, you wont eat them again for some time.

Charbon

<p />mad max beyond eggdome, Here is Peking pan. It is a cross between fry pan and wok. I'm using it here to cook chicken parm since it can go from stove top to oven without any damage. Ideal for pasta dishes as well as mussels and stir fry. 10 inches rim to rim. Stainless. So pretty I haven't scorched it on egg yet!