For Chinese New Year, Lucy Waverman starts the feast with mussels with black bean sauce.Jennifer Roberts For The Globe and Mail
This easy and attractive dish serves four as part of a Chinese menu or two alone with noodles or rice. Clams or shrimp make excellent substitutes for the mussels. If you can't find fermented dry black beans, you can substitute an equal amount of Asian black bean sauce, though the dry beans have a better flavour. This makes a lot of mussels; you can serve them without the noodles if you prefer.
Servings: 4
Noodles
8 ounces Chinese egg noodles
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Mussels
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons fermented dry black beans, rinsed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons white wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 pounds mussels, rinsed
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Method
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add noodles and boil until just tender. Drain and season with soy sauce and sesame oil. Set aside.
Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add garlic, ginger and black beans. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add soy sauce, wine, sugar, chicken stock and rice vinegar and bring to boil. Add mussels, cover wok and steam for 3 minutes or until they open. Remove mussels to a bowl.
Add cornstarch mixture and sesame oil to sauce and bring to boil, stirring until sauce has thickened. Toss with mussels and garnish with coriander. Serve over noodles.