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How to deliciously cook frozen, peeled mussel meat. How to cook peeled mussels. How to cook frozen mussels. Video

Mussel meat has been used as a delicacy for a long time. Nowadays, everyone can afford this tasty and healthy delicacy, rightfully classified as seafood.

Ingredient Selection

Mussels are ancient mollusks that live in seawater. They live in the clean waters of the world's oceans. They were mined for the precious pearls inside. Now this delicacy itself is a valuable pearl of any celebration or feast.

Mussels are regulars in restaurant cuisine. They make delicious soups, salads, roasts and other dishes. True gourmets, along with oysters, eat them raw with good wine. Mussels are eaten smoked, pickled, fried, boiled and stewed, with pasta, lentils and vegetables.

In stores you can often find boiled and frozen products. These are ready-made mussels, without shells, which before use can simply be defrosted and subjected to a little heat treatment. But clams are also sold in the shell and without.

The edible part of the mollusk, the mantle, contains many nutrients, minerals and elements, including nutritious protein, calcium, iodine and phosphorus. 100 grams of the finished product contains only 77 kilocalories. Therefore, mussels can confidently be classified as dietary products.

It is very important to learn how to choose the right marine representatives of the animal world. There are basic rules for purchasing shellfish.

Unpeeled frozen mussels should not be glazed with ice. Its presence indicates that this product has probably been defrosted several times. Such mussels partially lose their taste characteristics and properties.
Clams without shells should be light yellow in color, without foreign inclusions.
Try to choose only selected large-sized mussels. They taste better and have more healthy pulp. You can find out about the sizes from the packaging, where the numbers separated by a fraction indicate the number of pieces of this product per kilogram, for example, 45/1. This means that one kilogram contains 45 mussels. From this indicator you can judge their size: the fewer mussels, the larger they are and vice versa.
Carefully study the packaging characteristics. Mussels are living filters for water purification. Therefore, in unfavorable regions with polluted water, they may contain harmful toxic substances and carcinogens. Buy only environmentally friendly products!
To avoid poisoning, try to familiarize yourself with the quality certificates of this product. This is especially true for shellfish sold by weight.
It is always more profitable to buy peeled mussels. For one kilogram of product in shells, there are one hundred grams of purified product.

Cooking rules

To cook mussels according to all the rules, It is necessary to adhere to some subtleties.

Do not cook shellfish with damaged or open parts of the shells.
Before cooking in the sink, mussels should be rinsed well using a stiff brush, removing all growths and algae.
Do not forget to clean the mussels from sand and silt. To do this, they need to be washed well in several waters.
You should not eat shellfish that have not opened after cooking. This is a sign that they are sick or spoiled.

Deep-frozen boiled mussels must be thawed before cooking by placing them in the refrigerator on the bottom row. When the product is defrosted, it is washed with a stream of running water without impurities, freeing the pulp from grains of sand. After the preparation process, mussels can be cooked in any of the chosen ways.

The mussels take just a few minutes to cook. This product does not require pre-soaking, marinade or salting. In the case of a boiled product, it is enough to place it in boiling water for a while and immediately remove it, like boiled frozen shrimp.

Italian pasta, Greek salad, and a variety of Mediterranean dishes are prepared from boiled mussels. As a rule, these are stewed mussels with olive oil, stuffed with cheese and garlic. To remove the unwanted sea odor inherent in all seafood, mussels are irrigated with lemon juice before cooking.

Best Recipes

You don't have to be an experienced cook to cook delicious mussels. All you have to do is follow the recommendations and stick to the recipe. When experience comes, you can begin to improvise with this product, gradually complicating it and introducing new ingredients. The main thing is to take into account the compatibility of products, then the result will be positive.

With stewed onions, lemon and rice

This is one of the simple ways to cook mussels. Products you will need:

boiled frozen mussels with shells – kilogram;
six onions;
vegetable oil - half a glass;
basmati rice – 300 grams;
one lemon with zest.

Peel the onions, cut them in any way and fry them in a frying pan until golden brown, add spices. When the onion is ready, pour in lemon juice and add a little grated zest. Meanwhile, wash and cook the basmati rice. Thaw the boiled mussels, remove the shells, rinse, dry and add to the general composition in the frying pan. Simmer, covered, for seven minutes.

Cool the finished mussels and arrange them among the wings. A spoon in each. Place a quartered lemon wedge on top of each flap.

Serve on a common platter with cooked basmati rice in the center.

In white wine, Italian style

This dish is a little more difficult to prepare. Ingredients for cooking: boiled frozen mussels without shells - 350 grams; two glasses of dry wine; Provencal mixture of spices and herbs; low-fat cream - 250 grams; a large spoon of mustard; leeks; pitted olives - 70 grams; olive oil and pepper. First you need to put a container of wine on the stove. When the liquid is hot, add the thawed cooked clams and seasonings. Cook for five minutes, then drain into a sieve and place in a separate tray.

Prepare the gravy separately by heating the cream on the stove, adding the mustard mass, butter and pepper. Simmer slightly over medium heat. After 10 minutes, add finely chopped onions and olives. The sauce should be simmered with constant stirring until it thickens like sour cream. Arrange the finished mussels beautifully on portioned plates and top with cream sauce.

Mussels baked with cream cheese sauce

This dish is prepared with any type of hard cheese. It is preferable to use Lambert, as it has a pronounced creamy taste.

You will need:

package of peeled boiled-frozen mussels – 250-300 grams;
cheese – 150 grams;
a glass of cream;
raw chicken egg;
spoon of flour and starch;
three cloves of garlic;
salt, spices.

Thawed mussels are dipped into boiling water for a few seconds, taken out and placed on a paper towel to drain excess liquid.

Meanwhile, prepare the gravy. Pieces of cheese, garlic, raw egg, flour, starch and spices are added to the bowl with cream and salted. Mix everything thoroughly.

Place foil in a baking dish, folding the edges. Clams are placed in a container, poured with sauce, and thin slices of cheese are placed on top. Everything is sent to the oven, preheated to 200 degrees, and baked for 20 minutes. When the crust on top is browned, the dish is ready.

Serve ready-made mussels in portioned pots. This dish is best served with spicy mulled pomegranate juice.

Marinated clams

The recipe combines the properties of a smoked and pickled product.

To prepare this dish, 450 grams of boiled shellfish must be thoroughly rinsed with clean water and placed in a bowl. To prepare the salting liquid, you need to boil a liter of water, add peeled and chopped onions, hot peppers, bay leaves, salt and spices. You need to cook the mixture for seven minutes.

Four cloves of garlic are finely chopped, mixed with allspice and salt. You can add dill seeds.

All this is placed on the bottom of a 500-gram jar, then the mussels. Afterwards, the contents of the jar are filled to the brim with refined vegetable oil. Ready mussels are used as an appetizer or as an ingredient for sea salad

Cooking in a slow cooker

The modern method is quite applicable for preparing seafood.

First, boiled mussels must be placed in a cup and heated in baking mode for 20 minutes. Then add a sauce of mashed tomatoes sautéed with onions or tomato paste, a glass of fresh cream, continuing to cook for another 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, all the water will disappear, and the shellfish will acquire a delicate creamy taste. In restaurant cuisine, this dish is served with baked asparagus and celery root.

Ready-made shellfish are served in different ways. The type and methods of serving depend on the recipe, features and your culinary skills. The meat is threaded onto skewers, poured with sauces, and placed in shells. Soups can contain both peeled and shellfish.

Various dishes come with special equipment: tongs and oyster forks.

Marinated mussels are often served with eggs, avocado, chayote and basil leaves. Mussels served with tomatoes, pasta and lentils. Moreover, both a common dish and portioned plates are placed on the table.

Eating mussels requires special skills. Fresh shellfish in brine are eaten directly in the shells, with lemon juice and salt. When separating the shellfish shells, you need to use one of them as a spoon, pouring in citrus juice and salt. Pry out the pulp with a fork and, bringing it to your mouth, drink the contents.

Following etiquette at special occasions, mussels are served with a bowl of water for the hands and lemon, and a clean napkin for wiping, tongs and a fork are placed nearby. The tongs are held with the left hand, the fork in the right. It is customary to place a glass of mineral water next to the plate.

In an ordinary home environment, it is quite possible to do without all these difficulties, using only a fork and a spoon.

All recipes using boiled-frozen mussels can be successfully used at home. Even novice housewives will be able to do this. And in the future, any dish will become a real culinary work of art. Cook with pleasure!

To learn how to cook mussels in creamy garlic sauce, watch the video below.

Mussels are seafood that can often be seen on the menus of elite restaurants. Dishes made from them in such establishments cost a considerable amount, but why spend a lot if you can prepare this product at home, saving at least half of the family budget. And right now you will learn how to cook mussels at home. If you don’t know how to choose the right mussels, how to cook frozen mussels, clean the product and serve it, the information below is for you.

First, a few words about the benefits of seafood.

Mussels, the benefits of this product are very great for the human body.

Firstly, mussels are a low-calorie and at the same time nutritious product, from which you will not gain weight, but will fill your belly. By the way, the calorie content of mussels is lower than that of shrimp, which are often present on the menu for those losing weight.
Secondly, seafood can increase sexual desire and potency in men.
Thirdly, although there are practically no carbohydrates in shellfish meat, there is a high concentration of healthy vegetable protein, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins E and B, calcium, iodine and some other important elements.

How to choose the right product

Today, the price of mussels in cafes and restaurants is very high, but in a store this seafood can be bought much cheaper, but for this it is important to know how to choose it correctly, defrost it and cook it. About this right now.

How to choose the right shellfish meat:

When purchasing seafood, try to buy it frozen rather than fresh. Remember, fresh mussels are stored for no more than two hours.
When choosing a product, carefully inspect the shells; purchase only whole shells without chips.
Smell. It should be pleasant, sea, iodine. If the mussels smell unpleasant or suspicious, refuse to purchase; they may have already spoiled or were not stored correctly.
The shells should be tight and open with serious effort; if you were able to open it without difficulty, then the seafood is stale.
If you purchase peeled shellfish meat, it should be beautiful in appearance and elastic; dried or shriveled specimens will be stale, and possibly even spoiled and then frozen.
The color of mussel meat should be light, almost white. If you see a yellow product in front of you, this will indicate that it has already been defrosted and re-frozen several times.

Defrosting the product

How to properly defrost mussels so that they retain their benefits?

To do this, pour cold water over frozen seafood so that all shells or meat are completely submerged. Next, you need to wait until the product defrosts, drain all the water from it, rinse, clean and you can start cooking.

On a note! After defrosting, mussels must be cooked immediately, since harmful microorganisms grow and multiply very quickly in this seafood. When fresh, that is, defrosted, shellfish and shellfish meat are stored for no more than 1.5-2 hours.

How long to cook frozen, peeled mussels?

It is best not to subject mussels to prolonged heat treatment, otherwise they will simply lose their beneficial properties and become dry or rubbery in taste. Cooking by boiling shellfish meat will take no more than 7 minutes, depending on the size of the product.

How to clean mussels

There are several simple rules for cleaning mussels.

The first step is to defrost the product and throw away any cracked or open shells.

The meat is removed using a knife (the shell is opened and the mussel is removed from it), then the existing algae is removed from it and washed under cold water to remove sand and other contaminants.

Right now you will learn how to cook peeled frozen mussels, and how to cook seafood at home quickly and tasty. Below are some interesting recipes.

We will prepare a delicious and aromatic julienne of mussels and champignons. The dish turns out beautiful, festive, satisfying, filled with nutrients, and incredibly aromatic.

What ingredients will you need:

— 250-300 gr. shellfish meat;
- 300-350 ml. heavy cream;
- 200 gr. fresh champignons;
— 70-100 gr. cheese;
- a piece (40-50 grams) of butter;
— 30-40 gr. vegetable oil;
- breadcrumbs half a glass;
- a couple of tablespoons of wheat flour;
- any spices for seafood.

How to cook frozen peeled mussels, recipe step by step.

Wash the champignons, cut into slices, fry in vegetable oil until tender (7-12 minutes).
If they are in the shell, clean the mussels and cook for 5, maximum 7 minutes in lightly salted water.
Heat the frying pan by adding a piece of butter. Add flour and fry until it acquires a caramel color.
Add spices, salt, cream to the flour and, stirring constantly, cook over low heat until the mixture thickens a little.
The resulting sauce, by the way, if desired, you can also add garlic to it, beat with a whisk until fluffy.
Take julienne pots or molds, grease them with butter or vegetable oil of your choice, and sprinkle the edges with breadcrumbs.
We put mushrooms in layers in molds, then mussels, fill all this beauty with sauce, and sprinkle grated cheese on top. By the way, in this case you can even use processed cheese, but with semi-hard varieties it turns out tastier.
We put our mussel dishes in a preheated oven and cook at 200 degrees for 10 minutes. The main thing here is that the cheese melts and browns.

The finished julienne is served in portions directly in the pots in which it was baked.

Helpful advice! Alternatively, the champignons for this dish can be fried with onions.

How to Cook Frozen Mussels in the Sink

How to cook frozen mussels in shells is very simple, right now there is one such recipe that you will certainly like. The preparation requires a minimum of ingredients and a minimum of time, and the dish turns out to be very interesting and appetizing in appearance, as well as very tasty.

To prepare you will need:

— Clams in shells – 2.5 kg.
— Lemon – one small one.
— Water – 1-1.2 l.
- Salt and spices to taste.

How to prepare the shells:

Dip frozen shells in cool water for about 40 minutes, then brush on all sides and rinse. Be careful, if there are shells that are open or cracked, throw them away.
Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a small saucepan or saucepan, add cold water, spices and salt to it, stir the liquid.
Place the shells in your lemon mixture, cover the pan with a lid, turn on medium heat and cook the clams for five minutes from the moment of boiling.
Carefully remove the opened shells to a plate.
Serve your mussels immediately after cooking. The top of the treat can be sprinkled with soy sauce or sprinkled with sweet paprika. In the middle you can place a lemon ring rolled into a tube and a tomato with a sprig of dill or parsley.

On a note! After cutting a lemon in half, cut off one thin ring from it to decorate your dish.

Helpful advice!

Mussels have a very rich, pleasant taste if you add dry white wine to the water instead of lemon. In this case, the ratio of wine and water should be one to one.

Mussels, how to cook frozen mussels in creamy sauce

For this mussel dish, seafood should be purchased in shells, and even the smallest specimens can be taken.

You will need to take:

— Cream (from 25% fat content) – 300 ml.

— Mussels, not peeled – 1 kg.

- Bay leaf.

— Hard cheese – 60-70 gr.

— Soft cream cheese – 130 gr.

- Garlic at your discretion.

— Butter – 30 gr.

— Pepper, any seasonings, herbs, salt.

- A spoonful of flour.

How to cook frozen mussels in shells, step by step recipe:

Defrost the mussels, boil for five minutes, remove from hot water into a bowl and while we prepare the sauce, cover the food so that it does not cool down. Only opened shells are good; the rest should be thrown away.
Melt the butter in a frying pan, pour flour into it, fry for 5-7 minutes and then pour cream into this mixture.
Next, add soft cheese, chopped garlic and spices to the frying pan, mix everything and cook for a couple of minutes.
Grind the hard cheese, add it to the rest of the ingredients in the sauce, mix, cover with a lid and wait until it dissolves.
Open the mussels, pour the prepared hot sauce over them and you can serve them, garnished with chopped herbs or green sprigs of dill, for example. Rice is an excellent side dish for seafood prepared this way.

Ask the chef!

Didn't manage to cook the dish? Don't be shy, ask me personally.

Mussels, how to cook frozen mussels in shells in the oven

Ingredients:

— Unpeeled mussels – 1.5 kg.
— Tomatoes – 2 pcs.
- Bread (dry), you can use breadcrumbs - 2-3 pieces.
- A couple of garlic cloves.
— Olive oil (vegetable) – 1.5 tablespoons.
— Parsley, cloves, salt and pepper.

How to cook mussels in shells in the oven, step-by-step recipe:

Boil the shellfish meat until cooked, that is, until the shells open.
We transfer the finished shells to a plate, removing the top flap from them. As a result, the meat should be visible, it should lie on one part of the shell. Let the products cool.
Chop the parsley, add salt, pepper, cloves, grated peeled tomatoes, bread crumbs (grate the pieces of bread), vegetable or olive oil, mix. Attention! If your mixture is too thick, you can dilute it a little with boiled water.
Grease a baking sheet with oil, place all your shells evenly on it, cover each one with a spoonful of the resulting tomato mixture.
Bake the dish for 12 minutes at 180 degrees. Immediately after baking, serve the seafood on the table, placing it on a beautiful large dish and sprinkling it with herbs on top.

How to cook frozen mussels with shell

Another great, quick and easy recipe for cooking frozen mussels in shells.

To prepare we take:

— Shellfish meat in shells – 1.5-2 kg.
— A small head of garlic (you can take granulated).
— The lemon is small.
— A bunch of parsley.
— Butter – 50-70 gr.
- Half a glass of heavy cream.
- Spices.

How to cook mussels in shells, step by step instructions:

Boil the shells in water mixed with lemon juice and salt. As soon as the doors open, it’s time to take out the product.
Place the finished seafood in a frying pan, removing the top of the shell from each mussel.
Pour in a third of a glass of water, add oil, spices and heat your food in this mixture for about a minute.
Squeeze the garlic into the pan with seafood, add cream to the mixture, cover everything with a lid and simmer until the sauce thickens.
When the cream thickens, transfer the mussels to a dish and serve hot.
You can pour the sauce remaining in the pan on top of the shell, mixing it with any chopped herbs, in particular parsley.

On a note! You can add tomato, chopped into pieces, but without the skin, into the sauce. It turns out very tasty and beautiful when served.

Mussels in tomato sauce

The dish turns out to be spicy, incredibly appetizing in appearance, and very tasty.

You will need to take:

- 1 kg. mussels;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
— Tomato sauce (you can use ketchup or fresh tomatoes) – 200 ml.
— Lemon (juice of half a small citrus).
- 3 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil.
— Parsley, seasonings.

How to prepare a seafood treat:

We peel the garlic, chop it finely along with the herbs, wash the shells well, clean them, put them in a frying pan, fill them with water, and cook until they open. We dilute the tomato paste with water; there is no need to dilute the ketchup. If you took fresh tomatoes, you will need to grind them through a meat grinder, after removing the skin.

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add garlic and spices, and fry.

Add the tomato mixture, the juice of half a small lemon and chopped parsley to the browned garlic and mix. If desired, for a more spicy and piquant taste, we recommend adding chopped chili pepper to the sauce.

As soon as the tomato sauce begins to boil, add your seafood to it (only the opened shells). Simmer over low heat for several minutes (3-5).

As soon as the treat is ready, it is served hot on the table straight from the frying pan with or without any side dish of your choice.

How to eat mussels, video

Mussel dishes are quite popular in the world, but not everyone knows how to properly eat this seafood delicacy.

Everything in mussels is edible except the shells. It doesn’t matter whether the product is baked, boiled or fried.
Before eating this exotic seafood delicacy, you need to cook it, then remove the meat from the shell, and then you can dip it in some kind of sauce or simply eat it ready-made without sauce.
It is important to consume cooked mussels fresh, without leaving them to be stored for the next day or for a week. Remember, stale seafood can lead to serious poisoning.
You can eat the seafood delicacy with a fork, spoon or chopsticks. Here everything will depend on your preferences.

Before purchasing seafood, remember that mussels can cause allergies, and therefore it is not recommended for allergy sufferers and people with blood clotting problems to consume shellfish meat.

Now you know absolutely everything about mussels, how to cook frozen mussels, clean, serve. All that remains is to purchase seafood and surprise your household or guests with a wonderful, tasty and most importantly healthy treat.

Seafood dishes are healthy and tasty, so they should be present in every person’s daily diet. Among the huge list of sea and river inhabitants used for food, mussels are a special delicacy, from which at home you can prepare a variety of dishes for serving at the holiday table or as a savory snack for lunch or dinner.

How to choose ingredients?

Mussels are a unique storehouse of vitamins and microelements that are necessary for humans. In addition, dishes made from mussel meat will decorate the table, and their high taste qualities allow the seafood to be called a delicacy. That is why mussels are so popular in restaurants, and recipes for their preparation are present in different world cuisines.

Edible shellfish are not eaten completely, so the insides and mantle are removed during preparation of the dish. The product is distinguished by its content of proteins, iodine, calcium and phosphorus; in addition, the chemical composition of shellfish contains fats and carbohydrates, due to which the energy value of the product increases. As a result, tasty and properly prepared mussels can become a complete dish that can satisfy hunger and saturate the body with useful microelements.

However, in order to cook seafood at home, you must first of all carefully approach the choice of ingredients when it comes to preparing frozen shellfish. Most of the products arrive in domestic supermarkets already frozen; from such mussels you can successfully prepare salads or light snacks, souffles, soup, pizza or pasta. Mollusks are sold without shells or in the form in which they were caught.

In order to understand the products as best as possible, it is worth knowing that mussels do not come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Today, large delicacy shellfish called “kiwi” and medium-sized mussels are supplied to the market. The quantity in the package directly depends on their size. Uncleaned mussels after catching are subjected to heat treatment and sealed in a vacuum; the same technology is used to pack mollusks in half-shells or in the form of a simple fillet.

Regardless of your preferences regarding the purchase of mussels in one form or another, the bag with them should not contain ice and snow, as well as yellow deposits. These signs will unmistakably indicate that the seafood product was stored in violation of conditions, which can lead to serious poisoning when purchasing and consuming such mussels. High-quality mussel meat should have a light shade and be voluminous; fillets that are too dark with obvious structural defects will be an indicator of old age and questionable quality of the products offered.

An important point is the quality of packaging and its integrity. Ideally, conscientious manufacturers pack their goods in a vacuum containing a special window that allows you to view the mollusks in it. In addition, it is important to check the integrity of the packaging, since during transportation situations could arise as a result of which the packages with mussels would be damaged, which could negatively affect the quality of the product as a whole.

You can make sure that the purchased shellfish is fresh thanks to the smell. High-quality mussels will have the aroma of the sea, without foreign inclusions. If you bought mussels in the shell, you should pay attention to the fact that all the valves of the mollusks were tightly closed. If they are open, it means that the shellfish were frozen already dead, which increases the risk of purchasing a bad product.

As for taste, large seafood will be more nutritious and appetizing. If you want to purchase the freshest seafood possible, it is worth considering that the most delicious shellfish will be those caught during the season, which falls from July to February. Products that will be supplied from winter to spring turn out to be more fatty. Manufacturers usually indicate such information about products on the packaging. Exporters of seafood are countries such as Canada, France, and Italy.

It is important to pay attention to expiration dates, since even frozen seafood under proper storage conditions will only be suitable for consumption for a few months.

Preparing to cook

Like any other product, mussels require a number of preparatory measures. And since the product was sold frozen, it must be defrosted before serving. There are several ways to do this.

In the first case, the purchased shellfish are placed on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator so that they gradually reach normal temperature without aggressive jumps. This option will be optimal for preserving the quality of seafood, however, it will take the most time.

The next method could be the technology of soaking shellfish in water. To do this, you need to take liquid at room temperature into any container, having previously dissolved a little salt in it, and place the mussels there for 40-50 minutes. After time has passed, the water must be drained and the product rinsed under the tap, then the mussels can be cooked according to any recipe you like.

As for such operational defrosting measures as a microwave oven or boiling water, it is not recommended to consider such options for seafood. You should also avoid thawing mussels without the shell or in the shell at room temperature without using salt water. Having brought the product to the desired condition, shellfish that were not cleaned before packaging should be cleaned, then the shells should be rinsed in plenty of running water to remove any sand that may have gotten inside during the life of the mussel.

After carrying out the mandatory procedures described above, the seafood must be boiled using salted water, and it is best to use sea salt for all dishes containing shellfish. If heat treatment is carried out with unpeeled mussels, the degree of readiness can be determined by the fact that the shells open. When working with seafood at home, it is worth knowing that shellfish fillets may vary slightly in color, since the meat can be yellow or quite rich orange.

If the product is in this color range, you can be sure of the freshness of the purchased product.

How long does it take to cook?

Some cooks skip the step of pre-thawing mussels if they were purchased without a shell. Therefore, the product is boiled immediately. To cook seafood, you need to put a small amount of water in a pan, immediately add salt to the water, and put it on fire. As soon as it boils, place the shellfish in boiling water and boil over low heat for 5 minutes. It is very important that the meat retains its elasticity and softness during heat treatment, so you should not cook the mussels for too long.

Some gourmet shellfish dishes are prepared by replacing regular salt water with soy sauce and even dry white wines, seasoning them with herbs and lemon juice. If you need to cook mussels in the shell, then the product is immediately immersed in water, brought to a boil, after which the liquid is drained, and the shellfish are immersed in new water and boiled for about 10 minutes.

Instead of the usual pan, you can boil the product in a slow cooker; such a device will be able to control the cooking time, which will be important for preserving the taste and nutritional properties.

Dish recipes

Mussels, which will be prepared in compliance with all recommendations, can act as an independent dish or as an appetizer at the dinner table or at any special event. To prepare frozen peeled mussels and surprise your household with an unusual and very beautiful dish, you can use the Mediterranean-style clams recipe. It will require the following products:

frozen seafood;
salt, mixture of peppers, turmeric;
olive oil;
garlic;
dry white wine;
water;
hard cheese.

The technology for creating a dish consists of the following stages. First of all, you need to peel the garlic, chop it and simmer in a frying pan with olive oil. After which the garlic must be removed. And fry the rice with salt and spices in this oil, simmer it for a few minutes so that the grain acquires a golden color. Then add a little water and wine to the pan, increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Mussels should be boiled in salted water. And when the rice has absorbed all the liquid, combine all the ingredients and simmer at low temperature under a closed lid for about 10 minutes.

Serve the dish hot, sprinkled with grated cheese.

An appetizing and satisfying seafood dish for the main course can be mussel julienne. Its composition will be like this:

frozen shellfish;
cream;

To prepare a delicious julienne, you need to chop the onion, fry it until soft, and boil the mussels in salted water. Then add seafood to the onion, pouring cream over the ingredients. The resulting sauce must be salted and peppered. Stew the shellfish in the creamy marinade for no more than 3-4 minutes, then place them in molds or pour them into one large baking container, grate a thick layer of cheese on top using a coarse grater, and place in a preheated oven. It is worth preparing mussel julienne at a temperature of 170-180C; the dish will be ready to eat after the cheese crust on the julienne becomes golden.

It is best to serve seafood immediately; for decoration, you can use fresh parsley or any other to taste.

A very colorful and spicy recipe for cooking mussels at home is a fairly simple and quick option for cooking shellfish in Korean. To serve such an unusual and tasty dish, you will need the following ingredients:

frozen seafood;
soy sauce and onion;
black pepper, salt;
honey, coriander;
lemon or lime;
nutmeg;
chilli.

The cooking technology is as follows. For an appetizer, you need to boil the seafood, cool it, and peel it. Then peel the onion and cut it into thin rings or half rings, pour over citrus juice and salt, and leave to marinate. After that, you need to mix soy sauce and the remaining spices, honey and a little lemon juice in a separate container, the resulting composition needs to be slightly warmed up. Mussels need to be combined with onions and the resulting warm sauce, add hot pepper and leave in the refrigerator for several hours. The appetizer is served cold; mussels can be used as an addition to any drink or as a complete salad for lunch or dinner.

You can prepare a healthy and dietary first course from frozen shellfish. For seafood soup you will need the following ingredients:

mussel meat;
crab meat;
sea bass fillet;
cold pressed olive oil;
Sweet pepper;
chicken broth;
pepper, salt;
dry white wine;
thyme, bay leaf.

First of all, you need to prepare and boil the mussels. The fish should be cut into small pieces, the onion should be chopped and simmered with a small amount of oil for several minutes. Cut the pepper into strips and add to the onion. Then pour the broth over the food, add spices, pour in a small amount of wine, and bring to a boil. Lastly, add chopped fish and shellfish to the soup and cook for about 5 minutes. It is best to serve the soup immediately and cook strictly according to the number of servings, since the first dish will significantly lose its taste if reheated for the second time. It is recommended to use mussel shells and thyme to decorate the portions.

You will learn how to cook frozen mussels from the video recipe below.

It used to be that mussels were a poor man's food. And this is not surprising, because mussels can be caught in any body of water. Now, despite the availability of this product, mussels are considered a true delicacy in many countries. If you share the same point of view, then in this article you will find some interesting recipes, how to cook mussels at home.

Mussels are a unique product that has a special taste and contains a huge amount of useful substances. Those who truly appreciate and understand the essence of healthy eating are sure to add mussel dishes to their diet.

Let's try to figure out what's so useful about this product:

Mussels contain easily digestible protein containing essential amino acids. A person must consume them without fail in order to maintain the full functioning of the internal organs.
The insides of mussels contain beneficial fatty acids, for example, arachidonic fatty acid, which ensures complete metabolism in the human body.
Mussels contain vitamins A, B and PP, which improve blood, strengthen the immune system and help normalize vision.

Mussels should definitely be included in the diet of people who:

have cancer
arthritis
have problems with blood
improper digestion

Those with gout should not eat mussels, because the huge amount of protein contained in these shellfish will be converted into uric acid and deposited in the form of crystals on a person’s joints.

How to choose quality mussels?

Mussels are a valuable product that will benefit humans only if they are fresh. How to understand that you are looking at quality shellfish:

they should only smell like a sea; if you smell some kind of unpleasant odor, it means the product is already spoiled;
the shells of the mussels must be tightly closed; if you see the opposite picture, then refuse to purchase such shellfish so as not to be poisoned;
the mussels should have a pleasant yellow color, moreover, there should be no cracks on their shells; if you see defects of this kind, it means that you are looking at a product that has already been defrosted and frozen several times.

Mussels are unique in that they can be served with absolutely any side dish and cooked as an independent dish. These shellfish contain only 80 calories per 100 g of product, so you can eat them in unlimited quantities - they will not affect your figure in any way.

The main thing is to know how and how long to cook mussels to make a healthy and tasty dish. We will share with you great recipes that you can use right now.

How to cook frozen mussels?

Frozen mussels are most often sold already shelled. Before preparing them, you need to defrost the product and then use it for its intended purpose. We offer you a recipe for delicious pasta with frozen mussels in cream sauce:

Boil any pasta or spaghetti in the usual way.
Thaw 200 g of mussels and fry them for 7 minutes in a frying pan pre-greased with vegetable oil.
Add garlic juice to mussels. The amount of this ingredient can be any - it depends on your taste preferences. As a rule, 2 cloves of garlic are enough.
Pour the boiled pasta into the frying pan where the mussels were cooked.
Pour 200 g of heavy and sweet cream into the resulting paste. Mix everything thoroughly so that all ingredients are well saturated with creamy taste.
After this, season the dish with thyme and ground black pepper to taste, and also add 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.
Wait until the cream in the dish begins to boil. Once this happens, mix the pasta with the mussels and serve.

How to cook mussels: recipes

There are many other interesting recipes, how to cook peeled mussels. Here are a few of them :

Can cook mussels in the oven with cream sauce:

First, the mussels are boiled. You will need 1 kg of product and 5 minutes of time for this process.
The baking tray in which you will bake the mussels should be greased with butter. Place the clams on it and set them aside. After this, turn on the oven so that it heats up to 200 degrees.
While the oven is heating up, prepare the cream sauce: grate 200 g of cheese (preferably processed cheese), add 300 ml of heavy cream and 1 yolk (raw). Next, add garlic juice made from 2 cloves of garlic, 20 g of flour and potato starch. Mix everything thoroughly so that the sauce acquires a uniform thick consistency.
Pour the creamy sauce over the mussels and place them in the prepared oven for 15 minutes.

Can cook mussel meat in a slow cooker:

Prepare 500 g of mussels.
Fill the multicooker container with vegetable oil, and then place the peeled mussels in it. Immediately season them with salt and pepper to taste.
Turn on the “Baking” mode on the multicooker. Let the mussels cook for 25 minutes.
While the main ingredient is fried, prepare a tomato and cream sauce for it: blanch 200 g of fresh tomatoes, chop them in a blender, pour 200 ml of heavy cream into the resulting juice, and then mix everything thoroughly so that the sauce acquires a uniform consistency.
Pour the resulting sauce over the fried mussels in the slow cooker and let them simmer in it for 10 minutes. The dish must be served hot.

Can cook mussels over a fire:

Thaw and prepare 1 kg of peeled mussels for heat treatment.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, and then add garlic juice from 2 cloves of garlic to the resulting liquid.
Pour the resulting sauce over the mussels. Immediately season them with pepper and other spices to taste.
Pour the juice of one freshly squeezed lemon over the mussels and leave for half an hour so that the shellfish are well marinated.
Place the prepared meat on the barbecue grid and fry it over the fire on each side for 3 minutes.

How to cook fresh mussels?

Now let's figure it out how to cook mussels, closed in flaps, not frozen. Experts recommend cooking any of this product as soon as you buy it because shellfish spoil very quickly.

What needs to be done to cook boiled fresh closed mussels:

rinse all mussels very thoroughly to remove sand under running water;
first, lower the mussels into boiling water for just a couple of minutes (this time is enough for the shells to open and the meat can be removed);
meat that has been removed from the shells must be cleaned and rinsed under water so that all the sand comes off;
If you don't want to remove the meat from the shells, then simply put the midi in boiling salted water for 10 minutes, during which they will open (once you smell the delicious sea aroma of the shellfish, they are ready to be served).

It is advisable to serve unpeeled mussels hot with some kind of sauce. We offer you the recipe cooking mussels in shells in tomato sauce:

Transfer the boiled clams to a heated frying pan. It needs to be greased with butter and garlic juice.
Add to the main ingredient several canned tomatoes without skins and paprika (literally half a teaspoon).
After 2 minutes, add to the sauce:

glass of wine (preferably white)
ground black pepper (literally 1 pinch)

Cover the mussels with a lid and after 7 minutes remove them from the heat. During this time, the sauce will thicken and imbue it with the aroma of shellfish.

How to marinate mussels?

Mussel meat can be eaten as a snack. However, to do this, it must be properly marinated:

Prepare half a kilogram of peeled mussels.
Peel 1 head of garlic. Cut each clove into strips.
Add 10 g of dried dill to the chopped garlic.
Boil the brine:

boil water in a saucepan
add 20 g of salt to it
10 black peppercorns
75 g of onions (it is better to peel 2 heads and throw them whole into water)
1 pod hot pepper

Boil the prepared mussels in this water for 5 minutes. After this, add 5 ml of liquid smoke to the water, cover the mussels with a lid and leave them to cook for another couple of minutes.
Place the garlic-dill mixture at the bottom of one jar, which must be initially sterilized.
Then add the mussels removed from the brine.
Pour vegetable oil over the mussels until it covers them completely.
Once the mussels have cooled, place them in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Then they can be served as a cold appetizer.

Abroad, mussels are added to rice to make pilaf with seafood. The Spaniards call this dish paella. In Asia, soups are prepared with mussels. You can show your imagination and come up with your own delicious dish. The main thing is to remember to carefully process the mussel meat and their shells so as not to harm your health.