Mussel Soup- Sinigang na Tahong

Nothing beats a nice hot delicious bowl of soup, I love using mussels when they are in season. This is the easiest filipino soup to make because you don't need any specialty broth mixes like tamarind. The flavour of the broth comes from the garlic, onions, ginger and tomatoes that are sauteed in the beginning. I hope you give this super easy and fast recipe a try.

Ingredients

1/2lb of mussels on a half shell (10-12 large mussels)

2-3 minced garlic

1/4 cup sliced onions

thumb size ginger sliced

1/4 cup tomatoes quartered (2 small tomatoes)

1 green chili

3 tsp chicken broth powder + 3 cups water

handful of spinach

1 tsp salt

salt and pepper to taste

1. Thaw mussels if bought frozen. Add 1 tsp of salt and scrub the shells of the mussels in order to clean and remove fishy flavours. Rinse and drain the mussels until the water is clear. Set aside

2. In a shallow pot add 2 tbsp oil at medium heat.

3. Add the garlic and saute for 1 min.

4. Add the ginger and onions and saute until garlic becomes slightly brown around the edges.

5. Add the tomatoes and continue to saute until the tomatoes becomes slightly softened. Add a pinch of salt to bring out the liquid from the tomatoes. This will create a sauce like consistency and is important for flavouring the soup.

6. Add the cleaned mussels and stir to combine. Turn the mussels over so they are shell side up and allow to cook this way for 2 mins. Then stir to combine.

7. Season with a pinch more salt and 3 tsp chicken broth and add 3 cups of water. If you are not using broth powder you can use chicken stock or fish/shrimp stock. I use what I usually have on hand. You can also decide how much liquid to put. Just taste and season. Add the green chili at this point.

8. Bring to a boil and add the spinach. Once the spinach has wilted turn the heat off and serve. Mussels don't take long to cook and this will ensure it will not become rubbery. 

9. Serve with white rice.

** When eating mussels as large as this, they can have large black area which is the digestive gland, this part can have a strong fishy taste when eaten. I remove this before eating if the mussels are quite large. If your mussels are smaller the fishy taste won't be as strong and you don't have to remove it.