Clem's  Moules et Frites

Belgium in Sydney

I had heard of Moules et Frites a long time before I first had it. That occasion was in 2017 at Belgo Centraal (Covent Garden) and Belgo Noord (Camden) in London (see here). When I returned in 2022 and looked for the restaurant, alas they were defunct (closed in July 2020 as a consequence of the economic impact of the COVID-19 epidemic)

The dish is a Belgian culinary icon. Frites is what anglophones call "fries" (sometimes erroneously "French fries"). Belgium is the culinary home of origin of frites. Moules is mussels and in this dish they can be as simply done as being steamed with celery and parsley.

Since I have ingredients left over from the previous night's Seafood Chowder, I decided to cook moules et frites again. I made a version known as moules marinière ("sailor-style mussels).

Here's how to make this simple dish:

INGREDIENTS

• 800 g of Black Mussels.
  This is enough for one diner.
   
• Celery (one stem).
   
• Optional: Leek (one quarter of a stalk is plenty).
   
• Onion (one half of a medium-sized one)
   
• A few cloves of garlic if you are so inclined.
   
• A few sprigs of parsley.
   
• Butter.
   
• Dry white wine (optional).
   
• Condiments.
   

METHOD

1. Prepare your seafood.
   Clean the shells of the mussels well.
   Remove beards.
    
2. Finely chop the onion, celery and leek (if used).
    
3. Roughly cut the parsley.
    
4. Fry the onions, celery and leek in plenty of butter until the vegetables are translucent. You can make a stop to the mussels cooking at this stage and prepare your fries.
    
5. Now you can get your fries ready.
   The easiest route is to use store-bought fries but deep fry them, which was what I did.
   Have the fries ready before you start cooking the mussels as the latter will only take minutes to do.
    
6. Go back to frying the aromatics onion, celery and leek.
   Add wine if you decide to use it and bring to a boil.
   If you don't use wine, substitute it with enough water to make a gravy.
   
   You may choose to add some stock powder of your preference at this stage to enhance the taste of the gravy.
    
7. Add the mussels, stir well  and let them steam for a few minutes, with shaking to mix them in between.
   Do not over cook the mussels or else they will shrink and toughen up.
   If using live mussels, the sign that they are cooked is when the shells open up.
   You may choose to garnish your mussels with chopped fresh parsley after cooking.
    
8. Serve the mussels and fries fresh out of cooking.
   The fries in this dish is often accompanied by mayonnaise.
   
   A good accompaniment to complete the meal is Belgian beer.
    

Clem's Moules et Frites

ENJOY!

www.clemkuek.com

23 July 2026
 

Created by Clem Kuek