Marinating mussels for the winter. How to deliciously marinate frozen mussels at home

How to marinate frozen mussels: photo recipe at home

Marinated mussels are a delicacy that seafood lovers will appreciate. Mussels are a light, but at the same time quite nutritious product, so they will be a suitable appetizer for any festive table.

How to marinate frozen mussels: a recipe at home

The only point is that this delicacy cannot be classified as budget. But at the same time, preservatives, dyes and other harmful “chemicals” can easily be found in store-bought pickled shellfish. Therefore, it will be much more useful to marinate mussels yourself, using a frozen semi-finished product. It won’t take you a lot of time and effort, but at the same time you will get a natural and tasty snack.

Products for cooking

What is necessary:

• 300 grams of raw frozen mussels;
• a pinch of allspice and black peppercorns;
• 1 clove;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• a pinch of ground coriander;
• 1 teaspoon sugar;
• 1 teaspoon of salt (without a slide);
• a bunch of greenery;
• 1.2 glasses of water;
• 1.5 teaspoons vinegar;
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce;
• 2 dessert spoons of refined oil.

How to cook marinated mussels: homemade recipe

Step-by-step recipe for marinated mussels:

Place the frozen mussels in one lump in a colander. After holding them for literally half a minute under running water, they will instantly thaw from the ice, so you won’t have to defrost them for a long time. Be sure to leave them in a colander for a while to let the excess moisture drain out. When purchasing, make sure that the mussels are raw and not boiled.

Peel the garlic clove, crush it under a special press, and place it in a spacious frying pan placed on the burner. Next, pour in 1 tablespoon of oil, fry for literally half a minute so that the oil absorbs the smell of garlic, while constantly stirring it with a spatula. In no case should you fry the garlic for a long time, otherwise it will burn and have an unpleasant smell.

Next, pour in the indicated portions of soy sauce and vinegar. If you like a more sour taste of pickled mussels, you can increase the amount of vinegar to 2 teaspoons. At this stage, you can immediately add bulk ingredients - sugar and salt, stir to dissolve them as quickly as possible.

Then pour enough hot water into the pan and bring to a boil.

At this time, throw in two types of pepper, cloves, coriander and bay leaf. Be sure to taste the marinade and add the missing spices if necessary.

Next, immerse the mussels in the brine. Cook them in a liquid base for no more than 1 minute over high heat, then remove from the stove.

As soon as the clams have cooled a little, transfer them to a small glass jar and pour the marinade on top. It is better to remove the bay leaf so that it does not cause bitterness in the future.

Rinse the greens, chop finely, add to the jar with the mussels, also pour in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, it won’t be too much.

Close the jar with the contents, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight. The next day, you can safely taste the marinated mussels.

Bon appetit!

This dish is quite simple, you just need to follow the instructions and you will succeed. Marinated mussels are very relevant for the holiday table.

Step 1: defrost the mussels.

Place frozen mussels directly with the bag in a deep bowl with cold running water
and defrost them in this way for
30 - 35 minutes.
Afterwards, drain the thawed mussels in a colander and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water to remove sand and any other contaminants. Then transfer the seafood to a clean deep bowl.

Step 2: cook the mussels.

Place a deep saucepan with 1 liter of clean distilled water on the stove, turned on to medium level. Using a knife, peel the onion without cutting off the tail, rinse the vegetable along with the red pepper under running water and add the ingredients to the pan. Add salt to taste, not forgetting that you will be combining seafood with soy sauce, which also tastes salty. Bring the water to a boil and cook the vegetables for 8 - 10 minutes
so that they release their aroma.
Then throw the prepared mussels into the water and cook them for 3 - 4 minutes.
Then, using a slotted spoon, remove the mussels, transfer them from the pan to a deep bowl, and let them cool. You no longer need the water in the pan; you can drain it.

Step 3: marinate the mussels.

Add balsamic vinegar, soy sauce to the bowl with mussels and stir the ingredients with a tablespoon until smooth. Take a clean, sterilized liter jar and place bay leaf, dried coriander seeds and black peppercorns in it. Then peel the garlic and squeeze it through a garlic press directly into the jar with all the spices. Place seafood in a jar with spices and fill it with olive or vegetable oil so that the fat completely covers the mussels and reaches almost to the level of the neck of the jar. Mix the ingredients with a tablespoon, close the jar with a clean plastic lid and shake a couple of times. Then put the mussels in the refrigerator for 10 - 12 hours,
or better yet, even longer, since the more time they marinate, the more aromatic and richer their taste will be.

Step 4: Serve the marinated mussels.

Marinated mussels are served cold, placed on special plates or bowls designed for serving seafood.
Before serving this dish, you can garnish the marinated mussels with fresh chopped dill, parsley or green onions. The ideal aperitif for this food is white or pink semi-dry wine. Enjoy and have fun! Bon appetit! Sometimes mussels are marinated with fresh herbs (dill, parsley, basil), or lemongrass and savory are added.

The set of spices in this recipe is not important; you can add any spices that are suitable for seafood dishes.

If you bought mussels with shells, rinse them thoroughly under running water, then soak them in cold running water with salt and lemon juice to open the shells. Then place the opened shells into boiling water and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Then remove the mussels from the water, let cool and separate the meat from the shells. Then use seafood as directed in the recipe.

Before using a liter jar with a plastic lid, make sure they are clean and dry!

Frozen mussels can be found in any store, but are often undeservedly deprived of our attention. Let's try to cook something wonderful from nondescript icy lumps - pickled mussels!

Supermarket shelves are full of a variety of canned seafood. Such quick snacks have long been loved by all of us. What could be faster - open a few jars and in a matter of seconds build a table that is not devoid of a certain amount of sophistication. But who knows what improvers, enhancers and other additives are hidden behind tempting labels? What prevents us from preparing an amazing snack ourselves? The main point is proper defrosting! Like other seafood, ideally, mussels are best defrosted in a colander on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, or, in extreme cases, under running cold water, and in no case in the microwave. Only in this case, the taste of sea reptiles will remain inside, and will not flow away along with the melted ice shell.

Total cooking time – 2 hours 10 minutes Active cooking time – 10 minutes Cost – $2 Calories per 100 g – 161 kcal Number of servings – 1 jar 150 ml

How to cook marinated mussels

Ingredients

:

Mussels – 200 g (frozen) Vinegar – 2 tbsp. (8%) Water – 100 ml Black pepper – 3-4 peas Sugar – 1 tbsp. Salt – 1/2 tsp. Bay leaf – 1 pc. Vegetable oil – 3 tbsp. Garlic – 1 clove Sweet paprika – 1/2 tsp. (preferably smoked)

Preparation:

While the mussels are defrosting, prepare the marinade: mix 100 ml of water with vinegar, sugar and salt, add pepper and bay leaf, bring to a boil and cool to room temperature. Blanch the mussels for 2 minutes in salted boiling water and drain in a colander. Then mix with the marinade and leave for at least 2 hours, or even better, in the refrigerator overnight.

Heat the vegetable oil, pass a peeled clove of garlic through a press and add paprika. Drain the marinade from the mussels and season them with aromatic oil. Marinated mussels are ready. Bon appetit!

Cleaned mussels are often sold frozen. Learn to cook them deliciously, and then your loved ones will not argue that life is good without this mollusk.

Mussels, as one of the most popular seafood, are famous for their nutritional value and beneficial properties. However, having tried the inhabitants of exotic shells, not many remain fans of their taste. This is because this shellfish is not always prepared correctly. There are certain rules that are followed when cooking to make the shellfish truly tasty. Let's figure out how to cook frozen peeled mussels so that their taste is delicious and unforgettable.

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Snack

Mussel meat is a light and dietary product that has a healthy composition. One of the options for a light and unusual snack for the holiday table can be pickled mussels. The recipe for this dish is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance. The main thing is to properly prepare the brine in which the shellfish will simmer. Housewives should pay attention to the fact that pickled mussels can serve as a main dish, or they can be an excellent dietary side dish or a light snack to go with sparkling wine.

Of course, in any supermarket you can find marinated mussels, the recipe for which remains a mystery, since the manufacturer is in no hurry to share the secrets of the technological process with customers. But many will agree that these shellfish do not have a rich taste - you just want to add a little lemon juice or soy sauce. Therefore, it is best to buy frozen mussels and prepare a delicious appetizer from them yourself.

Useful properties of mussels

These amazing mollusks contain a large amount of amino acids necessary for humans. For example, the amino acid tryptophan, which promotes the production of the joy hormone. Mussel protein is superior in tryptophan, methionine, and keratin content to fish and meat proteins. Obtaining methionine from food is necessary for humans, since this amino acid is not synthesized in our body. These shellfish contain a lot of zinc, they have a beneficial effect on the health of our skin, nails and hair.

For diet lovers, mussels are just a godsend. They contain a lot of protein, practically no fat, and those that do contain do not contain “bad” cholesterol. Keratin reduces appetite, promotes the production of melanin and the reduction of fat, it improves the functioning of the adrenal glands, thyroid gland and pituitary gland. By adhering to various diets, you can eat delicious and delicious dishes with this seafood without gaining weight at all. Calorie content – ​​100 kcal/1 kg of product.

This is interesting! The average Dutch person eats approximately 10 kg of mussel meat per year.

In order for the dish to be tasty and healthy, the ingredients must be fresh and of high quality. Here are some tips on how to choose good mussels:

• Frozen seafood should be free of snow and cracks in the glaze of the ice. If such defects exist, most likely the product has already been defrosted, and during the next freezing its beneficial properties were lost.
• Cleaned frozen shellfish should be light in color
• Choose the largest mussels - they are considered more juicy and tasty. On packages with this product there are always two numbers separated by a fraction, which tell the buyer the number of pieces of the product per kilogram, for example 55/1 or 30/1. Therefore, the lower the first number, the larger the mollusks will be.
• Mussels are a natural filter of the aquatic environment. They filter up to 700 liters of water per day. If shellfish are grown in environmentally polluted regions, they can accumulate a lot of toxins. It is better not to use such a product, as there is a high risk of poisoning. When choosing a product, look at the place of production on the packaging or, if you buy in bulk, ask the seller for a quality certificate.

This is interesting! From 1 kilogram of unpeeled mussels, approximately 100 grams of peeled mussels come out.

What to look for when choosing

Only the fleshy part or, in fact, the muscle of the mollusk is eaten. Today, the choice of various delicacies is simply crazy, and store shelves are bursting with abundance. In all this diversity, you need to be able to choose the right fresh product.

To begin with, you should only choose tightly closed representatives; if the shells are even slightly open, this may, unfortunately, mean that the mussel is already dead. You can check for “vitality” in another way, just lightly tap on the hard part, if the mussel shrinks, then everything is fine, you can safely eat it.

Mussels are sold in two forms: in the shell and peeled mussel meat

In most cases, the product goes on sale already frozen, so it is very difficult to determine freshness in this form; this is usually done after complete defrosting. The only criterion, in this case, can only be the presence of an unpleasant odor.

According to the advice of experienced specialists, ideally, the fleshy part should smell exclusively of the sea, without any other flavor impurities. The meat should have smooth edges, light and presentable appearance. Also, under no circumstances should there be any snow deposits or yellow smudges. This eloquently indicates that the product was repeatedly frozen and thawed.

How to prepare frozen peeled mussels: cooking methods

Mussels are prepared in various ways: in a slow cooker, microwave, steamed. They are boiled, fried, baked, pickled. They only need to be thermally treated for 3-5 minutes. This seafood is used to prepare soups, salads, appetizers, and hot dishes.

Tip: To prevent the mussels from smelling like fish, sprinkle them with lemon juice.

Fried mussels with onions

A very simple cooking method. The clams need to be steamed for 15 minutes. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry onions in it. Cut the blanched clams into small pieces and mix with fried onions. Salt and pepper. After 5 minutes the dish is ready.

Here's a look at how to fry mussels in a frying pan.

Mussels in Belgian style

You need to pour 700 g of white wine into a saucepan and put on low heat, let the wine simmer for about one minute. Then add some Provençal herbs and add 400 grams of mussels. Leave to simmer over low heat, stirring them occasionally in the pan. You need to simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Sauce. In a small saucepan, heat the low-fat cream (500 ml) and add one tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Finely chop the leek and also add to the cream. Some cooks add some capers along with onions. Cut approximately 200 g of blue cheese into small cubes and add to our sauce. Season with white pepper and bring the sauce until cooked, until it becomes thick sour cream.

Place the mussels in a colander, place on a plate, pour over and serve.

Mussels baked with cream sauce

Boil the mussels in salted water for 3-5 minutes, then drain the water. For the sauce, mash 2 processed cheeses well with a fork, add one chicken yolk, one tablespoon of flour, one tablespoon of starch, squeeze out 3 cloves of garlic and mix everything well until smooth. Add about 300 grams of cream to the resulting mixture, add salt and pepper and mix everything well again.

Line a baking dish with foil or grease it with butter, and transfer the boiled shellfish into it. Pour the sauce over the dish and sprinkle grated hard cheese on top. Place all this in an oven preheated to 200° and bake until golden brown. When serving, sprinkle the dish with grated cheese again.

To prepare this seafood, heat treatment is not necessary; they are simply marinated. To make the brine, boil 1 liter of water in a saucepan, add one peeled onion, one red pepper and salt into the boiling water. Boil the brine for 15 minutes. Add one teaspoon of liquid smoke, 0.5 kilograms of thawed peeled mussels and leave to cook for another 3 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix chopped garlic (1 head) and spices to taste. For example, 2 tablespoons of dry dill and one teaspoon of black peppercorns will do.

Remove the seafood cooked in brine from the pan. In a half-liter jar, add garlic and spices to the bottom and place shellfish on top. Fill everything with 200 milliliters of vegetable oil. After 12 hours, the fragrant marinated mussels are ready! They are served as a snack or used as an ingredient in other dishes.

Setting the “Baking” mode, fry the thawed mussels in olive oil. Cooking in this mode is designed for 25 minutes, but you need to fry for 15. After 15 minutes, add two fresh tomatoes chopped in a blender and 200 ml of low-fat cream to the seafood. Leave the dish in the multicooker until the end of the “Baking” mode, that is, for another 10 minutes. The excess liquid will evaporate, and the mussels will acquire a pleasant tomato-creamy taste. These mussels are served with any side dish, for example, baked celery root puree with butter is perfect here.

Pasta lovers will definitely appreciate the simplicity of this recipe, and the dish will become one of their favorites. In the same water, alternately boil: 200 g of mussels, 200 g of shrimp, 200 g of squid. Cook each seafood for 5 minutes. When all the seafood is cooked, do not pour out the broth; we will need it for the sauce.

In a large frying pan, fry 4 large cloves of garlic in butter. When the garlic adds aroma to the oil, take it out and throw it away. Place 500 g of pasta, cooked until half cooked, into the aromatic oil. Add boiled seafood there, salt and pepper to taste and add 200-300 ml of the broth in which the seafood was boiled. Mix all this well, cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.

Sauce. For the sauce you will need 150 ml of seafood broth, 150 ml of low-fat cream. All this needs to be salted and thickened over low heat with 1-2 tablespoons of flour.

Serve pasta with cream sauce on a large plate. Before serving, garnish the dish with parsley sprigs.

Adviсe

1. It is important not to overcook the meat and not overcook it in the oven. Here you should choose a squid-type cooking method, no more than 3-5 minutes. Otherwise, the shellfish will not be tasty and rubbery.
2. Fresh mussels must have tightly closed valves that cannot be opened, even if you apply a little force with your hands.
3. Shellfish should be served in wine; grape nectar will make the taste of the product much richer and brighter.
4. Recipes for cooking mussels are best taken from reliable culinary literature with photos, for correct and step-by-step preparation with decent serving.

Recipes for cooking mussels are best taken from culinary literature

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