Mussel soup
This is one of the best mussel soup recipes you will find. The fresh mussels, cream cheese and fennel combine perfectly to create perhaps the tastiest mussel soup in the world! This soup isn’t just delicious, it can also be adapted with French fries or polenta fritters to create equally wonderful moules frites. Try it, it’s worth it!
Ingredients
Mussels
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1¾ kilo
Fresh mussels in the shell
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200 ml
Chicken stock
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1
Onion, sliced (approximately 100 g)
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10 stalks
Flat-leaf parsley
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Soup
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25 g
Butter
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1/2 ½ tsp
Curry powder
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2 tbsp
Flour
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600 ml
Chicken stock
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150 g
Cream cheese, natural
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½
Fennel, thinly sliced (approximately 150 g)
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¾ tsp
Salt
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1 pinch
Freshly ground pepper
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Top of fennel
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For serving
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Flat-leaf parsley
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150 g
Rustic bread
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Topping Suggestions
Garnish with Top of fennel and parsley.
Mussel soup
Does it matter if mussels float in water?
Placing mussels in a bowl of cold water is a fast way to check if they have gone bad – if they float, it’s best to discard rather than risk eating them. Don’t leave the mussels in the fresh water for too long however, after only 15 minutes they will die.
Can you overcook mussels?
It’s definitely possible to overcook mussels – if you want to avoid the meat going chewy, tough and losing flavour, stick closely to the guidelines in the recipe.
How many mussels do you need per person?
Determining how many mussels to serve per person is akin to determining how long a piece of string should be – the answer is really determined by how many you want to serve. As a rough rule of thumb, measuring 20 mussels per person provides a good starting point.
How do you eat mussels in soup?
It is completely acceptable to remove the mussel from the soup with a spoon, grasp the shell in a hand, then dislodge the meat with a fork. After that the choice is yours: either eat it with a fork, or suck the mussel out from the shell with some of the tasty broth!
Other recipes
A shellfish choice of soup
This mussel soup is adapted from the base components of moules frites, Belgium’s national dish, which originated in the 1700s when cheap and readily available mussels from the North Sea were combined with white wine, butter, shallots and the ever-important fries on the side.
There is no such thing as too many mussels
Mussels have fairly large shells but relatively small edible contents, so keep that in mind when determining how many to use in your soup. There’s nothing worse than making the effort to prepare a delicious stock then realising at the end that you used too few of the tasty molluscs, so be generous with yourself and your guests!
Flex your mussels and add some herbs
Mussels go well with a range of herbs – in this recipe we chose parsley and fennel, but try thyme, tarragon and dill for alternative takes that are equally satisfying. If you feel like a really luxurious version, saffron is also a wonderful compliment.
Don’t be shy to use your hands
Removing the meat from the mussel shell can sometimes be a challenge: using your fingers to grasp the shell while a fork is adopted to dislodge the mussel itself is usually the easiest and most time efficient approach. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty in the name of good food.
