Refreshing and Aromatic Celery Mussel Soup
10-Minute Dish ~ How to Make Celery Mussel Soup
Winter is the season for plump, delicious mussels, and this soup highlights their wonderful flavor. Mussels are incredibly easy to prepare, have a mild, non-fishy taste, and don’t require pre-soaking to remove sand, making them a convenient choice for quick meals. Simply cleaning them and removing the beards results in a wonderfully clear broth and tender, flavorful meat. Mussels are also packed with nutrients beneficial for liver health and can help alleviate hangovers. In this recipe, we add fragrant celery to eliminate any potential fishiness and impart a subtly exotic aroma and taste, reflecting its common use in international mussel dishes. Celery and mussels are a surprisingly delightful pairing! This soup is incredibly simple to make – just add everything to a pot and simmer until the mussels open. As you enjoy the succulent mussel meat, the milky broth gradually reveals itself. Scooping up the creamy broth with pieces of celery offers a refreshing taste of the sea in every spoonful.
Ingredients- 1kg fresh mussels
- 1 stalk celery
- 400ml water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Small piece of ginger (thumbnail size), thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp soju (or cooking wine)
- 2 Tbsp chopped green onion
- 1/2 red chili pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 green chili pepper, thinly sliced
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
Rinse the mussels under cold running water 2-3 times, scrubbing off any dirt from the shells. Carefully pull off and discard the tough, beard-like ‘foot’ from the side of each mussel. If the shells are particularly dirty, you can scrub them with a brush.
Step 2
Mince the garlic cloves or slice them thinly. Finely chop the green onion. Slice the ginger thinly after peeling it.
Step 3
Wash the celery stalk thoroughly under cold water, pat it dry, and then thinly slice it crosswise. You can also use some of the celery leaves for extra aroma.
Step 4
Place the cleaned mussels into a pot. Add the water, soju (or cooking wine) to help remove any fishy odors, and season with salt. Adding all seasoning ingredients at this stage is key.
Step 5
Add the sliced celery, minced garlic, sliced ginger, chopped green onion, and sliced red and green chili peppers to the pot. Cover with a lid and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Step 6
Once the water begins to boil, the mussels will start to open. Gently stir the mussels with a spoon or spatula to ensure the ones on top are also submerged in the broth. As soon as all (or most) mussels have opened, turn off the heat immediately. Overcooking will cause the mussel meat to shrink and become tough, so only cook until they open.
Step 7
As you enjoy the succulent mussel meat, you’ll notice the broth turning beautifully milky. The refreshing broth, infused with the subtle aroma of celery, tastes like a spoonful of the fresh sea – perfect for relieving a hangover or as a light meal.
