How to clean mussels at home?

Mussels are deservedly considered one of the most delicious and nutritious delicacies, they are actively used in the cuisines of many countries of the world, even if they are not typical for a particular area. Before starting to create culinary masterpieces, you need to understand how to clean the mussels correctly, otherwise there is a risk of spoiling the taste and aroma of the gourmet dish. The approach will depend on the type of nutritional component.

Fresh, frozen and prepared mussels are processed differently, each method has its own characteristics and nuances. Proper pre-treatment will allow not only to prepare a nutritious and nutritious dish, but also guarantees the maximum benefit from the meat, which is unique in chemical composition.

How to clean a frozen product?

When starting to process a frozen component, you need to start with its proper defrosting. To do this, iron out the products in a bag, place in a container with cold water and be sure to crush the mussels with a load so that the sinks do not open ahead of time. The load should not be very heavy, otherwise the shells can crack and eat such meat will be dangerous.

The cleaning process itself is as follows:

1. For processing, we select only tightly closed sinks, it is better to throw open products immediately. We lay out a high-quality product in a pan, fill it with water, add a few tablespoons of cornmeal and keep it in this form for an hour. Manipulation will allow you to get rid of sand, which may be contained in shells.
2. If the products have antennae, remove them with pliers, pulling them to the base of the sink. Next, clean the shells of mussels, armed with a stiff brush.
3. Once again, we wash the products and immediately proceed to cooking. Peeled mussels should not idle for more than a few minutes.

A classic option is to immerse products in hot water and boil them for 8-10 minutes, until the shells are fully opened. You can add a little white wine to the broth, then the meat will be especially tender and aromatic. Only fully opened sinks are served to the table, the rest are thrown away.

Rules and features for cleaning fresh mussels

Fresh product must be prepared on the day of purchase. If the sinks must be preserved in their original form for several hours, then put them in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and put in the refrigerator.

To clean mussels at home you need the following scheme:

• First we select a quality product. Its wings should be closed, on the shell there can be no chips, cracks or damage.

Tip: Sometimes there are mussels whose sashes are slightly open. In this case, you need to forcefully press them; if they slam, the mussel is alive and you can cook it.

• We lay out the selected products in a container with cold water, this will eliminate sand.
• Half an hour after soaking, we begin to clean the sinks one at a time under running water with a brush. Treated specimens are placed in clean water.

After such a treatment, boil the mussels according to the classic recipe or prepare them in accordance with other instructions.

How to handle the finished dish?

The extraction of meat from the finished product is a real art and in the absence of appropriate skills, the process of eating a delicacy can turn into torture. If the menu includes a dish of mussels, then the table should be served with special devices consisting of tweezers and an oyster fork.

We take the tweezers in our left hand, hold them in the sink, which remains in the plate, and with the help of the fork, carefully remove the meat. It is poured with sauce and eaten. Used sinks are stacked on a separate plate. The whole procedure is quite troublesome, but after some time it even starts to give aesthetic pleasure. The main thing is to act carefully so as not to splatter the juice of others.

Processing mussels before cooking is the key to high-quality cleaning of the product, because it is not very pleasant to feel not juicy meat on your teeth, but grains of sand. It is highly not recommended to pre-marinate the product, it will lose its traditional softness and turn into a fragrant, but tasteless snack.

We recommend reading the article on how to freeze fresh champignons at home