Name: Kam heong mussels
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 85g of banana shallot; 18g of garlic cloves; 10g of ginger; 3 red bird's eye chillies , or fewer depending on your spice tolerance; 5g of curry powder, ideally Malaysian curry powder; 18g of oyster sauce; 10g of Thai soybean paste; 3g of light soy sauce; 2g of dark brown sugar; 1/2 tsp Sarawak black pepper, toasted and freshly ground; 20g of dried shrimp, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes; 10g of vegetable oil; 45g of vegetable oil; 2 curry leaf sprigs; 500g of mussels, cleaned and debearded

Main
Easy
2
40 minutes

PT40M

These kam heong mussels from Abby Lee are topped with crunchy and savoury homemade prawn floss. This dish comes together very quickly, and the savoury, peppery soy-based sauce can also be used on other seafood like crab or clams.

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Rempah (paste)

85g of banana shallot
18g of garlic cloves
10g of ginger
3 red bird's eye chillies , or fewer depending on your spice tolerance
5g of curry powder, ideally Malaysian curry powder

Sauce

18g of oyster sauce
10g of Thai soybean paste
3g of light soy sauce
2g of dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp Sarawak black pepper, toasted and freshly ground

Prawn floss

20g of dried shrimp , soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
10g of vegetable oil

Finishing

45g of vegetable oil
2 curry leaf sprigs
500g of mussels , cleaned and debearded

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shopping List

Begin by making the prawn floss. Drain the dried shrimp, reserving the water. Blend the prawns until they are crumbly. Add the prawns to a pan with the oil, and cook over low heat, stirring regularly, until lightly caramelised and dry. Remove from the pan and drain off the excess oil on kitchen paper

20g of dried shrimp , soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
10g of vegetable oil

Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together

18g of oyster sauce
10g of Thai soybean paste
3g of light soy sauce
2g of dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp Sarawak black pepper, toasted and freshly ground

To make the rempah, first roughly chop all the ingredients except the curry powder. Add everything to a blender or food processor, pulse until coarsley chopped. Remove from the machine and mix in the curry powder

85g of banana shallot
18g of garlic cloves
10g of ginger
3 red bird's eye chillies , or less depending on your spice tolerance
5g of curry powder, ideally Malaysian curry powder

Next, heat a saucepan or ideally a wok over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil. Throw in curry leaves and let them pop for a few seconds. Stir in the rempah until very fragrant. Get a lid ready, then throw in the mussels, most of the sauce and reserved shrimp water. Cover and shake the pan. Leave to cook, covered, until the mussels to open up. It will take a few minutes. Throw away any that mussels have not opened

45g of vegetable oil
2 curry leaf sprigs
500g of mussels , cleaned and debearded

Take the lid off. At this point the sauce may be a tiny bit runny. If so, let it reduce and thicken slightly for a few minutes, until it's thick enough to coat each mussel with the sauce and nicely glossy

Serve the kam heong mussels on a plate and sprinkle over a generous amount of prawn floss and the remaining sauce

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Abby Lee

Abby Lee began her career predominantly cooking Italian food but after moving back to Malaysia during the coronavirus pandemic, began to learn more about the food she grew up eating and decided to pivot towards Malaysian cookery. She has since made a name for herself at her London restaurant Mambow, where her bold modern Malaysian dishes have gone down a storm.