Mussel Stew

I often look back on the days when used to be a Japanese language teacher. My work required me to drive out of town and I would teach my class of engineers at one of the offices beside their factory. It was tough writing their lesson plans but it was one of my more wholesome careers. Looking back, I miss being able to be in a classroom and just sharing with my students what I knew. I tried not to give them anything too overly complicated and taught them a lot of essential Japan-related things they needed to know.

Anyway, as I would drive home from work, my route going to and from that facility took me past a scenic route of southern Manila Bay, where some fisherfolk and their families made a living selling freshly caught mussels and watermelons on the side of the roads. I could easily pay as much as Php 300.00 (around $6 USD) for a kilo of mussels. Sometimes they'd even be generous about it too and add a couple more in the plastic bag it came with. Turns out, most days they get a lot of mussels left over.

One day, I just craved for some. On my way home after one of my classes, I stopped by a stall, bought like two kilos worth, and asked my mother if she would teach me how to cook her homemade mussel stew. She kindly obliged.

There's a secret to this stew. It's rather simple, really: it's Sprite. Sprite not only gives the stew a sweet and savory flavor, but it also manages to draw out that natural mussel-ey flavor. Or something along those lines. Look, it just tastes good, m'kay? Think of it as one of those "don't ask questions" kinds of things.

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Ingredients:

• 1 kg mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 15 g garlic
• 20 g ginger
• 30 g onions
• 30 g butter
• 250 ml Sprite
• salt
• pepper

1. Mince your garlic. Halve and slice your onions. Make strips of ginger.
2. Heat up a pot or casserole pan in medium heat or 170°C. Add butter. When it melts, add your ginger and sweat for 2 minutes. Then add your garlic and onions. Let sweat for 5 minutes.
3. Add the mussels into the pot. Cover. Leave as is until the mussels have finally opened.
4. Pour in the Sprite. Increase to high heat or 200°C to boil the stew. Once it boils, return the heat to medium and let the stew simmer for 10 minutes. Season accordingly.

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Fork and spoon? Forget those. These are best eaten with your hands! 👏 They're also easier to peel out of the shell that way anyway. You can either eat them as is or with rice; I personally prefer having them with the latter. 🍚