Serves 4

1 kg Spring Bay Mussels, de-bearded and washed
2 Tbsp Thai Green Curry Paste (recipe below)
500 Ml Fish Stock or Chicken Stock
100 Gms Coconut Powder or Cream
1 Each Coriander Bunch, chopped leaves and stems
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 Each Fresh Chilies, diced
1/2 Bunch Vietnamese Mint, chopped
2 Each Onion Cloves, finely sliced
2 Tbsp Garlic, chopped
50 Ml Olive Oil
4 Each Kaffir Lime Leaves, torn
1 Large Sour Dough Loaf, for garnish

Curry Paste:
15 Each Green Hot Chilies
3 Tbsp Shallots, chopped
1 Tbsp Garlic, chopped
1 Tspn Galangal, chopped
1 Tbsp Lemon Grass, chopped
1/2 Tspn Kaffir Lime Rind, chopped
1 Tspn Coriander Root, chopped
5 Each Pepper Corns
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 Tspn Cumin Seeds
1 Tspn Salt
1 Tspn Shrimp Paste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and curry paste to extract the flavors. Add fish stock, fish sauce, chili, Kaffir lime leaves and bring to the boil. Reconstitute the coconut powder with hot water and add to saucepan. Bring to boil before adding the remainder of the ingredients. Poach the mussels in the broth for approximately 5 minutes or until the shells open

Serve immediately with warm sour dough bread

Curry Paste:
In a wok over low heat, put the coriander seeds and cumin seeds and deep fry for about 5 minutes. Then grind into a powder. Into a blender put the rest of the ingredients except the shrimp paste and blend – mix well. Add the coriander-cumin seed mixture. Shrimp past and blend to obtain ½ cup of a fine-textured paste. This can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for about 3-4 months.