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This Exclusive Recipe From A Top Chef Is Packed With Gut-Friendly Ingredients
I've spent the last year dreaming of the dinner parties I'd host if and when friends and I could safely gather together, and now it seems this summer is going to grant my wishes for festive nights with amazing dishes and all the people I've missed so much.
Maybe it has something to do with my love language, but I think cooking for people can be the ultimate expression of care—so even though I personally keep to a more vegetarian diet, I always like to have a few go-to dishes that I can serve for friends who focus on more Mediterranean or other eating styles.
When the team at Bowery Farming reached out about an exclusive recipe from their culinary adviser chef Eric Adjepong, MPH (whom you might know from Top Chef), we jumped at the chance. And they delivered the perfect dinner party dish, one I'll certainly be bookmarking for the future. At Bowery Farming, they're growing sustainable produce right near cities like New York and Baltimore—and at this time of year, there's a super fun green in season: sorrel.
Sorrel might not be a leafy green you're familiar with, so here's a quick description: It comes from the same family as rhubarb but looks more like spinach or baby kale. It has a pretty intense flavor reminiscent of citrus–which means it's a perfect pairing with seafood dishes (like the one below from chef Adjepong).
The dish pairs a sorrel sauce with mussels in a coconut dashi. And, in addition to lemony sorrel, the dish features other punchy flavors like garlic, ginger, miso, jalapeño, and kombu (a type of kelp). The mussel mixture also incorporates bonito flakes—bits of tuna that are simmered, smoked, and then fermented—which are often used in Japanese cuisine, especially sauces.
This blend of ingredients with inflammation-fighting benefits and fermented components makes this dish a stunner in flavor and health.
Coconut Dashi & Mussels in Green Sorrel Miso
Ingredients
For the Mussels:
- 1 pound mussels
- 1 kombu, piece
- ½ cup bonito flakes
- 3 cups water
- 4 garlic cloves, minced, divided
- 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, minced
- 1½ medium-size shallots, diced
- Cooking oil, as needed
- 1 13.5 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 ounces hazelnuts toasted
- 1 ounce toasted sesame oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
- A few leaves of Bowery Farming Green Sorrel, fresh for garnish
- 2 tablespoons chives, fresh, chopped
- 2 jalapeños
For the Sorrel Miso Paste:
- 1 ounce avocado oil
- 4 ounces hazelnut, toasted
- 1 garlic clove
- 1½ ounces Bowery Farming Green Sorrel, fresh (reserve a few leaves for garnish)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1½ teaspoons red miso paste
Method
- Soak mussels in cold water for at least 20 minutes, then drain well.
- In a small pot, add kombu, bonito flakes, and water; set on high heat to simmer, about 25 minutes. Drain dashi from kombu and flakes. In a mortar and pestle, combine hazelnuts, sorrel, 1 clove of garlic, avocado sesame oil, lemon, and miso mix until a paste is formed.
- Add avocado oil to a large stockpot over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, and ginger, and cook down, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add half the miso sorrel paste and continue cooking for an additional minute. Add muscles and cook over medium heat.
- Pour dashi over mussels, reduce heat to medium-high; cover, with a tightfitting lid, and cook until the muscles have opened, stirring once, about 7 to 9 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low; discard any unopened mussels and skim off any impurities. Add in coconut milk and the last half of miso sorrel paste; stir. Remove muscles from heat. Pour into a bowl. Garnish with remaining sorrel leaves, jalapeños, and chives.