This is one of the first recipes I published way back in 2014. The recipe still holds up but the pictures didn’t so I have taken new ones along with a step by step video. My love of shellfish started as a child growing up on the North East coast of England. Mussels, cockles, dressed crab and winkles just to name a few of the fresh seafood my parents used to treat us to every weekend. I based this soup on the Belgian classic, moules (mussels) provençale. Brussels is one of my favorite cities and I can never get enough mussels when I’m in Brussels (oh look, a little poetry). If you love cioppino (like me) you may want to check out my recipe for Brodetto di Pesce, a Italian mixed seafood soup. Mussels are a popular dish in Belgium, served with fries (frites) that was traditionally peasant food. I don’t care, I know that I usually eat my weight of them when we visit.
Spicy mussel soup
To spice up the soup, add a few red pepper flakes to the broth.
How to buy and clean mussels
If they smell fishy, do not buy them. They should smell briny like the ocean.If any of the mussels shells are broken, you must discard them.If any of the mussels open, tap it on the counter If it stays open, throw those out because this means it is not alive.Cook and eat them the same day you buy them.If any of the mussels don’t open after cooking, discard them.
To prepare the mussels, I like to add them a large bowl of water to rinse them and remove anything from the shells. Some may have a little piece of what looks like lint sticking out of the shell, this is the beard (see below). Simply pull on it to remove.
If you’ve made this Mussel Soup or any other recipe, please leave a comment below. I love to hear from my readers!
- 10 mussels per person (weight may vary depending on the size)* The beard looks like lint coming out from the mussel. Not all mussels will have them. Pull until they are removed.
