Spicy Mussels Soup: A Refreshing Broth with Seasonal Mussels (Baek Jong-won’s Recipe)
Baek Jong-won’s Recipe: How to Make Spicy Mussels Soup (Complete Guide from Cleaning to Purging)
Hello everyone! I’m RyuYi, a Naver food influencer. ^^ With the season for fresh mussels here, I prepared a special mussels soup for my husband. Although the mussels I received by delivery were small, their flavor was richer than ever. Mussels soup, with its milky and refreshing broth, is perfect as a winter snack or a warming hangover cure. It’s not as difficult as you might think, so let’s enjoy a wonderful mussels soup at home!
Main Ingredients- 1kg fresh mussels
- 2L clear water
- 3-4 Cheongyang chili peppers (adjust for spiciness)
- 1/2 large leek
- 1 red chili pepper (for color)
- 1 green chili pepper (for aroma)
- 10 whole garlic cloves
- 1/2 onion
Seasoning & Additional Ingredients- 2 Tbsp coarse salt (for cleaning mussels)
- 2 Tbsp vinegar
- 3 Tbsp soju or cooking wine
- 2 Tbsp coarse salt (for cleaning mussels)
- 2 Tbsp vinegar
- 3 Tbsp soju or cooking wine
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
First, prepare the vegetables to enhance the broth’s flavor. Slice the onion into half-moons about 0.5cm thick, and cut the leek into 5cm lengths. Slice the red and green chili peppers diagonally. (Tip: Slicing the vegetables with diagonal cuts allows their flavor and aroma to infuse into the broth more effectively, and makes them easier to remove later.)
Step 2
Pour 2L of clear water into a pot, add the prepared leek, onion, whole garlic cloves, and Cheongyang chili peppers. Bring to a boil over high heat for 10 minutes to create a vegetable broth. This process infuses the water with the refreshing taste of the vegetables, adding depth to your mussels soup.
Step 3
Now, let’s clean the mussels. Put on rubber gloves, add 2 Tbsp of coarse salt, and vigorously rub the mussels with both hands. Repeat this 2-3 times to remove any impurities. (Tip: Coarse salt acts as an abrasive, effectively scrubbing away dirt and grime from the mussel shells.)
Step 4
Carefully pull off and discard the ‘beards’ (byssal threads) from the mussels. Also, discard any mussels with cracked or damaged shells, as they may be spoiled.
Step 5
For mussels with a lot of dirt on their shells, you can lightly sprinkle them with baking soda or use a clean brush to scrub the shells. This will make them even cleaner for cooking.
Step 6
Add all the cleaned mussels to the pot with the vegetable broth that has been simmering for 10 minutes. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Step 7
Once the mussels start to boil, add 2 Tbsp of vinegar and 3 Tbsp of soju or cooking wine. Vinegar helps to neutralize any fishy odor from the mussels, while soju or cooking wine adds umami and helps the alcohol evaporate, further reducing any unpleasant smells.
Step 8
When the mussels begin to open their shells, they are almost cooked. To maintain a clear and milky broth, skim off any foam that rises to the surface periodically. Gently stir the mussels with chopsticks to ensure they cook evenly.
Step 9
Mussels release a natural saltiness, so taste the broth after they are fully cooked and season with salt according to your preference. You can adjust the saltiness to suit your individual taste.
