Mussel spring rolls on minted smashed peas and topped with chilli jam

While scallops are delicate, mussels are bold. Especially these big juicy New Zealand gren lipped mussels. These mussel spring rolls on mashed peas and topped with chilli jam, deliver bold flavours and wonderful textures.

The heart of this dish are the mussels in a wine reduction, wrapped in spring roll wrappers and fried until crisp. The crispy fried spring rolls sit on mashed peas infused with fresh mint. On top is spooned some sweet and vibrant chilli jam. Layers of flavour.

I love chilli jam. A good chilli jam is not as hot as you might think, but has a wonderful sweetness and complexity. I prefer the style from Central Vietnam, specifically Hoi An. See my version of chilli jam.

You will be able to find spring roll wrappers suitable for this dish at a local asian market, probably frozen. Also available online. Thaw them out, prepare the fillings, then wrap as per the guide in the recipe.

Mussel spring rolls on minted smashed peas and topped with chilli jam

Servings: 4 people

Author: Steve Paris

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Mussel spring rolls

• 30 mussels preferably fresh, but I used frozen New Zealand mussels that had been thawed
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 red pepper
• 2 onions
• 8 cloves garlic
• 30 g butter
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 egg yolks whisked
• 8 spring roll wrappers
• 2 cup cooking oil

Smashed peas

• 3 cups frozen peas
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 20 g butter

And…

• 4 Tbsp chilli jam

Instructions

Mussel spring rolls

• If using fresh mussels, clean them thoroughly.
• Peel and finely dice 1 onion and 4 cloves garlic.
• Add the olive oil to a saucepan and bring up to a medium heat.
• Sauté the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.
• Add the white wine and bring to a boil.
• Add the mussels. Cover and steam for 8 minutes if using frozen mussels, or until most of the fresh mussels open. Discard any mussels that don’t open.
• Strain the mussel cooking liquid and reserve. Return to the saucepan over a medium heat and reduce down to 1/4 cup.
• Allow mussels to cool, remove the beard or other debris, and finely chop.
• Finely chop the other onion, the other cloves of garlic, the celery, and the red pepper. Sauté in the olive oil until softened.
• In another pan, make a roux from the 30 g butter and 1 Tbsp flour. When starting to turn golden, add the reduced mussel juice and while stirring continuously, slowly add the milk until you get a smooth thick sauce.
• Add the sautéed vegetables, chopped mussels, and whisked egg yolks and stir into the sauce. Salt
• Allow the mixture to cool in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
• Wrap some of the mixture into each spring roll skin.
  
• Bring the cooking oil to a medium high heat.
• Fry the spring rolls in the oil until golden.
• Drain on paper towels.

Smashed peas

• Boil the peas with 1/2 tsp salt for around 8 minutes.
• Drain, retaining some of the water.
• Mash the peas with a potato masher to the desired level of “chunkiness/mushiness”.
• Add the butter, mint, parsley, pepper, and other 1/2 tsp salt and combine.

Assembly

• Spread some smashed peas on a plate.
• Top with a couple of spring rolls.
• Add some chilli jam on top.