Accessible around much of New Zealand’s coastline and affordable from most local supermarkets, green lipped mussels or kutai are a great option when considering your next barbecue. They can be a little time consuming vs yield but are well worth the effort and a crowd pleasing taste of “kiwi”.
Ideal as an appetiser before the main event or your “bring a plate” for the game with mates… Let’s get shuck in!
Preparation:
- Select enough fresh mussels to fill your chosen barbecue/smoker. I prefer mouthful sized mussels, rather than larger models.
- Gently steam the mussels till the shells just begin to open.
- Shuck mussels into colander/sieve (retaining half of the empty shells) to drain off excess juices for around an hour (in a fridge or iced chillybin)
- In the half shells, place a mussel in each.
- Add a small dollop of BBQ sauce, Thai sweet chilli, garlic + soy / white wine, garlic and butter, Worchester sauce and diced cooked bacon or just plain jane to suit your own tastes. – the world is your oyster (errr…mussel), so get creative here and evenly coat the mussels.
The Smoke:
- Preheat your smoker to around 120C/250F and add smoking wood (I use Pohutukawa)
- Place mussels into the barbecue, indirect (not directly above the coals)
- After 45mins drain off any excess liquid formed in bottom of shell and flip each mussel and again apply small dollop of your chosen flavours/sauces.
- 30mins later they should be good to go!
Serve straight from the smoker hot or chilled, diced and used in fritters, as an ingredient for a chowder or a curried mussel dish – these smoked mussels are sure to please.
Until next time, keep those embers glowing.
Words &Photos: Kerren “Kezza” Packer – BBQ Writer