Before working for High Liner, I didn't know much about frozen, fully cooked mussels. I was accustomed to ordering 10 - 25 lb bags of fresh mussels from my fish supplier. They needed constant attention from the minute they arrived. First, they had to be cleaned and that's no rush job. Then they had to be stored properly, as they were still alive. No matter how much care you gave them, after day 2 they would really start to deteriorate, and give off a funk that was noticeable from a distance. Time to order another batch!!! Worst of all was the size of the mussels. Sometimes the shells were really big, but the mussels inside were the size of raisins. Customers think you over-cooked them or something. Let's not forget about the mussels that never open.  It's no wonder that establishments are hesitant to put mussels on the menu, despite their popularity.

High Liner Foodservice Signature Cooked Shell-on P.E.I. Mussels help save you time without sacrificing quality. We harvest them at their peak, so each mussel is nice and plump. They are fully cleaned as well, so no need to have someone hunch over the sink pulling off the beards any more. Then they are placed inside a vaccuum-sealed bag, cooked, cooled and frozen. The bag prevents the mussels from popping open during the cooking process.

So when the customer orders mussels all you need to do is grab the bag from the freezer, open and add them to a pan with some broth.  In this case I'm using a light curry broth. You can see all the juices from the mussels have been preserved which will add flavour to the broth once thawed. 

Cover this with a lid! You like my lid? The rest is just patience as the mussels thaw out in the hot curry broth.

They are ready once they are warmed through, which usually takes about 5 minutes. I like to scoop them out with a slotted spoon and then thicken my sauce with a bit of slurry. I love the fact that every mussel popped open. Now it's time to pour some liquid love over these bad boys.

*Note - If a sodium reduced mussel is desired simply rinse the frozen mussels with cold water before service or to order.

Recipe can be found here

Until next time...Stay hungry my friends!!