Moules Frites Recipe

Name: Moules frites
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: Mussels fresh 1 kg; Potatoes 5 pc; Salt 1 tsp; Pepper black, ground 6 pinches; dried chilli pepper 2 pinches; thyme 2 pinches; oliv oil some; hot mustard 1 tsp; lemon juice 1 tbs; Salt 3 pinches; Pepper 2 pinches; egg 1 pc; oliv oil 125 ml; carrots 1-2 pc; celery 80 g; leek 1/4 pc; Parsley 1/4 bunch; Garlic clove 4 pc; oliv oil 1-2 tbs; Allspice 2 grains; bay leaves 2 pc; Sugar 2 pc; dry white wine 100 ml; Vegetable broth 200 ml; butter 50 g; chilli flakes 3 pinches

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Moules fries recipe picture — Moules frites are Belgian-style mussels with French fries.

Author:
Thomas Sixt is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
Here he shares recipes, answers cooking questions and helps with cooking.

In this article, I present my moules frites recipe. The original Belgian-style mussels are served with French fries.

I still have very fond memories of Belgian food since my last visit to Brussels. The fresh mussels were a feast for me! I want to have that at home too.

I don’t like deep-frying in my kitchen. That’s why I prepare the potato side dish in the oven. A homemade mayonnaise is a must at this point. I show you the entire preparation with a cooking video and many step-by-step photos.

Let’s start the preparation and conjure up a fine dish! Have fun and good luck. Feel free to write me a cooking question at the end of the article or get in touch for kitchen gossip.

Table of Contents

1. Recipe Moules frites
2. Nutritional Values and Calories
3. Discover the Speciality of Moules frites
4. Mussels Cooking Tips
5. How to Recognise good and bad Mussels?
6. Weitere passende Ideen für Topf und Pfanne

1. Recipe Moules frites

If you have a deep fryer in the house, you can prepare the potato side dish from fresh potatoes as French fries. I opted for a healthier version: oven roasted potatoes. Below are the step-by-step instructions with photos. I wish you good luck!

Moules frites

Instructions by chef Thomas Sixt

Servings 2

Calories 1118

Total Time 40 Min.

Preparation Time 15 Min.

Cook Time 25 Min.

Instructions for the preparation of mussels belgian style.

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Ingredients

Prepare mussels
1	kg	Mussels fresh
Oven roasted potatoes
5	pc	Potatoes
1	tsp	Salt (I use Fleur de Sel)
6	pinches	Pepper black, ground
2	pinches	dried chilli pepper
2	pinches	thyme
	some	oliv oil
Mayonnaise
1	tsp	hot mustard (I use Dijon mustard)
1	tbs	lemon juice (I use the juice of half a lemon)
3	pinches	Salt (I use primal salt or Himalayan salt)
2	pinches	Pepper
1	pc	egg (only the yolk!)
125	ml	oliv oil
Mussel stock
1-2	pc	carrots
80	g	celery
1/4	pc	leek
1/4	bunch	Parsley
4	pc	Garlic clove
1-2	tbs	oliv oil
2	grains	Allspice
2	pc	bay leaves (optional)
2	pc	Sugar
100	ml	dry white wine (or Prosecco)
200	ml	Vegetable broth
50	g	butter
3	pinches	chilli flakes

Instruction

Prepare mussels

Ingredients for moules fries — Moules fries ingredients

Prepare ingredients

Prepare the ingredients, wash and dry the vegetables and herbs.

Mussels in a bowl photographed from above.

Wash mussels

Wash the mussels several times in cold water and then leave them in cold water.

Jacket potatoes as healthy chips

Cut potatoes — Prepare healthy french fries as baked potatoes. Step picture potatoes cut.

Prepare potatoes

Wash the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm pieces, depending on their size.

Seasoned raw potatoes — Raw spiced potatoes in a bowl.

Season potatoes

Season the potatoes with salt, pepper, thyme, chilli and olive oil in a bowl.

Potato pieces seasoned on the baking sheet — raw cut potato pieces on the baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cook potatoes

Spread the potatoes on a baking tray with baking paper and cook in the oven at 200°C for 35 minutes until crisp.

Prepare Mayonnaise

Ingredients for mayonnaise — Ingredients for homemade mayonnaise photographed on a kitchen board.

Mayonnaise preperation

Prepare the ingredients for mayo at room temperature.

Put the lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper in a high mug.

Add the egg yolk and whisk with a hand mixer.

Slowly whisk in the oil, first drop by drop, then in a thin stream until you have a creamy mayonnaise sauce.

Pour the sauce into a bowl and chill.

–> Tutorial Making Mayonnaise

Prepare mussels

Prepared vegetables — Prepared, sliced vegetables, parsley and garlic.

Prepare vegetables

Peel the carrots and celery and chop them with the leek.

Finely chop the parsley, peel and halve the garlic.

Garlic in the pot — Garlic and allspice with olive oil in a saucepan.

Prepare garlic

Roast the garlic halves in a large pot with allspice.

Caramelise garlic

Caramelise the garlic with a little sugar.

Sweat the vegetables in a saucepan — Laugh, carrots, garlic cut into small pieces in the pot while sweating.

Saute vegetables

Add the chopped vegetables and sauté.

Vegetable stock with butter — Refine vegetable stock with butter Step picture.

Deglaze vegetables

Deglaze with white wine and vegetables and bring to the boil, add butter and chilli.

Drain mussels

Place the mussels in a colander and drain.

Boil mussels — Put the mussels in the prepared vegetable mixture. Step picture

Add mussels

Add the cleaned mussels to the pot and cook with the lid on for 10 -12 minutes.

Cooked mussels in a pot with parsley just before serving.

Season Mussels

Season the mussels with parsley.

Serve

Arrange mussels with stock and vegetables on hot plates.

Serve with potatoes from the oven and mayonnaise.

Enjoy your meal!

Video

2. Nutritional Values and Calories

3. Discover the Speciality of Moules frites

The sea creatures come to the table in Belgium with freshly prepared chips. The mussel preparation itself is not very different from the well-known mussels in white wine variant from Italian cuisine.

The crispy fries on the side are a hit! I’ve already had the pleasure of enjoying this dish in Brussels and anyone who goes there should find a decent restaurant and order the mussels.

I had the mussels served in a pot, with chips and mayo. Since it’s hard to get beef fat for frying in Germany, I made oven potatoes for my version.

Mussels and crispy potatoes, that tastes wonderful!
Side dish tip from chef Thomas Sixt

Homemade fries in the bowl — French fries are a Belgian invention. Belgian fries are deep-fried in beef fat and taste exceptionally delicious.

4. Mussels Cooking Tips

To be honest, I prefer to buy the seafood clean. On the mainland, the goods usually arrive in the shops already quite well and appetisingly prepared.

Nevertheless, look a bit and always wash the mussels well in cold water. Scrape the shells with a knife as needed if there are chalky bits (shells) of sea anemones stuck to the mussels.

5. How to Recognise good and bad Mussels?

Here is some information on how to deal with sea creatures when shopping and in your kitchen

5.1 Odour test

When unpacking, please pay attention to the smell: fresh, live mussels smell gently of the sea and seaweed.

If the mussels smell unpleasant, please do not process them. Mussel poisoning is not funny.

5.2 Shell broken

Put the mussels in cold water and wait a few minutes. Sort out mussels with broken shells immediately. The mussels open and close while lying in the water.

5.3 Mussel knock test

Slightly open (1-2 mm) is OK, the mussels should close again when tapped or when lying in cold water. It is important that the mussel is still alive.

5.4 Closed mussels after cooking

Mussels that present themselves with closed shells after cooking are not to be eaten. Mussels that are closed after cooking are not OK and must not be eaten. Please only eat the wide-open mussels!