Departing from the typical white wine based sauce, here these NZ mussels are steamed in sake and miso. Sorry white wine - this some serious competition.
Slice one of the chillis length ways, revolve the pith and seeds, and then dice.
In a large saucepan, sauté onion and diced chilli in the butter until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook some more until the raw garlic fragrance disappears.
Bruise the stalk of lemongrass.
Whisk the miso and yuzu kosho into the Sake and add to the saucepan, together with the lemongrass.
Add the mussels, cover and cook until mussels are cooked (if fresh, they open) or heated through (if purchased frozen, about 5 minutes)
Remove mussels and reduce liquid by a third.
Dice the second chilli horizontally into thin round slices.
Add cream, chives, and diced chilli. Simmer for a few minutes.
Poor the sauce over the mussels and serve immediately with sourdough bread that has been smeared with melted butter or olive oil and toasted.
Drizzle with some chilli oil and serve with a nice crusty sourdough bread.