How to make
Despite their slightly unpleasant name, these mussels are uniquely delicious and pleasant and considered a real delicacy. With a lot of meat under their thin shell, they are a wonderful appetizer for white wine in the summer days.
As it is harder to find fresh ones, I will present you a recipe for frozen devil's claw mussels.
The peculiarity here is that when you take them out of the freezer, you should leave them for 4 hours in the refrigerator, preferably on the bottom shelf. Then immerse them in some water and they will open up. The water does not need to be salted, as we usually do with live sand mussels, which makes them throw away the sand under the shell.
Rinse the seafood well to make sure there is no sand left and leave them onto kitchen paper to absorb excess moisture.
Heat two pans at the same time - a wide pan over high heat and another small convenient pan, such as a saucepan, over low heat.
Melt the butter slowly in a saucepan and cut the garlic into thin slices directly inside.
Put some olive oil in the pan heated on high heat and arrange the open mussels with the shells facing down.
Sprinkle more olive oil and a little salt inside and leave them cook for 2-3 minutes or until you see that the mussels shrink slightly and turn from transparent to milky white. Sprinkle extra olive oil, so that they do not dry out.
If the mussels are quite large and thick, you can turn them over briefly with the meat side down - just enough for them to aquire an appetizing color.
In order for them to stay tender, do not overcook them, because they will become too tough over time.
During all this time, keep an eye on the butter with the garlic and as soon as it becomes slightly golden, remove it from the heat and flavor it further with chopped chives.
Arrange the prepared mussels into a plate and pour the butter sauce over them.
To finish off, add more basil flavor, by arranging the leaves on top or chopping them.
All these flavors are very suitable, although this unique mussel is quite fragrant itself. But try different combinations to find out which one you like the most.
Tip: Always consume them while they're warm!
Enjoy your meal!
