Mussels in garlic miso broth. This mussel recipe is a quick, easy, light and healthy take on a French bar-food classic. The mussels steam in the same pan as the miso broth in this effortless one-pan supper.
Mussels are easy to make compared to most fresh seafood options, and ready in basically no time at all, they’re a weeknight dinner dream.
Steaming mussels in white wine and serving with a creamy garlic sauce is one of my favorite classic dishes to eat. I used to live on these, eating them almost for 10 days in a row when the season started. But sorry white wine, now you have some serious competition.
So, we’re making the mussels with an East Asian influence and adding miso for some funky complexity. I hear you thinking, does this work? Yup. It really is very good.
I’ve added some fresh chilies and finished the dish off with some chilli oil. You may worry this could be very spicy, but it’s not a spicy dish at all. The chilli adds that extra punch, no more. You can make this dish as spicy as you like. And, don’t forget to toast up some crusty bread to soak up the delicious creamy sauce, that’s the very best part!
Note: The majority of mussels you’ll find available are farm-raised, which is good news when it comes to cleaning them, that requires less cleaning and they’re virtually free of grit. Always check them individual to make sure they’re closed tightly before cooking, it’s a little tedious, but one bad mussel can ruin the whole dish.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.
3 more delicious recipes
- Seafood pasta with samphire and butter sauce
- Spicy mussels with coconut milk
- Seafood ravioli with garlic butter sauce
Cooking Video
Mussels in Garlic Miso Broth
Ingredients
- 4.5 pounds mussels
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped or minced
- 1 tomato cored, seeded, coarsely chopped
- 1 tbsp white miso
- ¾ cup vegetable or chicken broth
- ¼ cup cooking cream or soy cream
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
For Serving
- 2 tbsp finely chopped chives
- chili oil
- chili pepper
- crusty bread
Instructions
- Prepare 2 large bowls with cold water. Add the mussels to one bowl, remove the beards attached to the side of the shells by tugging firmly toward the hinge of the mussel shell. You can also use a knife. Throw the cleaned mussels in the other bowl to remove remaining grit. Also, check and discard each mussel that is open and won’t close when pinched between your fingers. Rub off any leftovers of seaweed, sand or barnacles spots that could be on the shell. Drain and transfer to a clean bowl. Transfer to the fridge.
- In the meantime, chop the garlic, onion and tomato.
- Heat the sesame and vegetable oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and ginger. Cook for 3 minutes until soft and fragrant. Add the miso and tomato, cook for 2 minutes more. Pour in the broth, add fish sauce and mirin. Bring to a boil and add the mussels. Simmer for 8 minutes, covered, over medium heat. Stir, cover and simmer for 2 minutes more.
- Turn off the heat, add the cream and unsalted butter, cover and let sit for 1 minute until butter is melted. Stir, taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Top with chives and fresh chili, drizzle with some chili oil. Serve immediately with toasted bread. Eat!
Nutrition
And …IF YOU LOVE THESE RECIPES … please consider supporting my work for just the cost of a cup of coffee.
Sign up for my NEWSLETTER to receive the latest recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
It’s amazing that this recipe has no comments because wow! It is incredible! I make mussels a lot – almost always in a Thai coconut broth, but this… This! It’s so delicious! The broth was so yummy we ran out of bread and that’s saying a lot. We are just 2 people, so I used half the amount of mussels, but otherwise I followed the recipe, except for having to sub evaporated milk for the cooking cream. Thank you so much for this 5 star recipe! One of the best mussel recipes ever! PS I sprinkled La-Yu on it at the end, and just as you said, it wasn’t crazy hot at all. *****
Hi Marlene, thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that it was a winner!
Best mussels we ever had!!
So glad you enjoyed Kyle!
We thought this recipe was great! Probably should have halved this for only two people. Will def add the chili oil the next time.
hi Ashley, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for giving it a try!
Absolutely loved this! The chili oil on top is the perfect touch. 100% will be making again. Made for myself and my partner, only purchased 2 lb of mussels but made full broth recipe. Was the perfect amount!
So happy to hear that Lauren!
i only did about 3/4th of a lb of mussels cuz i’m just a single girl but kept the sauce amounts the same and hot damn this was soooo good. my first time making mussels also.
Yay! So glad you loved it Sara!
I was looking for a recipe to use my leftover miso, and hence tried this. I was not expecting too much, but they were amazingly good. I reduced on the fish sauce by just using a splash. The mussels were so good. Thank younfor your recipe. This one is for keeps.
You’re welcome Eleena!
I love seafood but cooking mussels has always scared me. We live in Columbus, Ohio and I couldn’t find mussels on any menu so I got over myself and made this recipe. My husband said “Wow this was fun and tasty”. He’s not much of a seafood eater so that was a great compliment!.
It makes me so happy to hear that Jeanmarie!
Woooow! My husband and I make mussels frequently. We’ve tried many recipes and almost always go back to the classic French mussels. However we were BEYOND glad that we tried this as it is our new favorite! We did make a couple of substitutions: we used half and half for the cream and instead of sesame oil we used chili oil. We also used 2lbs of mussels instead of 4.5. we drank the extra broth after soaking bread in it. Bottom line: TRY THIS!
Thank you so much for giving my recipe a try Rachel! So glad you both enjoyed it!
Hi, thank you for this amazing recipe. Do you recommend saving in the fridge for serving next day?
How long can I keep them good in the fridge? Thank you
Hi Jos! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! You can store the cooked mussels in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.