Penn Cove Mussels in Coconut Curry

Penn Cove sits on the eastern shore of Whidbey Island, where the waters run cold and clean and the mussels grow fat on plankton. The Mussel Farm there has been rope-cultivating these bivalves since 1975, long before sustainable aquaculture became fashionable. These are American mussels, raised in American waters, and they deserve the same respect we give any great ingredient.

Seattle's culinary identity was shaped by collision. Coast Salish peoples harvested shellfish from these waters for millennia. Scandinavian fishermen brought their smoking techniques and their reverence for the sea. And beginning in the 1970s, Vietnamese and Thai immigrants transformed the city's palate, introducing lemongrass and fish sauce and coconut milk to kitchens that had known only cream and butter. This dish lives at that intersection.

The technique is simple. Build a fragrant base of aromatics in a wide pan. Add coconut milk and let it simmer until the fat separates slightly at the edges. Then in go the mussels, lid on, heat high. Four minutes. Maybe five. They steam open in that perfumed broth, releasing their liquor into the curry, creating something greater than either component alone.

Serve this in wide bowls with plenty of broth. Put bread on the table. Not polite slices but torn chunks of something crusty. Your guests will fight over who gets to soak up the last of that broth. Let them.