Destination
Antalya
The story
Midye dolma (stuffed mussels) is Istanbul's most-loved seafood street snack and one of the city's most-photographed street scenes. Fresh Black Sea mussels are prised open with a knife (but not separated), stuffed with a Levantine-inspired rice mixture of medium-grain rice, sautéed onion, pine nuts, currants, allspice, cinnamon and dried mint, then simmered in their shells with a splash of water and olive oil until the rice has cooked through and absorbed the flavours. Served cold from big trays at street stalls with just a squeeze of fresh lemon. Sold from wooden trays at every Beyoğlu, Kadıköy and Beşiktaş street corner in the evenings, and eaters buy them by the piece (5 to 10 pieces per person). The classical eating position is standing on the pavement with a paper napkin and a piece of lemon.
Method
Scrub each mussel under cold running water. Remove the beard (the tuft of fibres poking out) by pulling firmly. Discard any that are broken or that stay open when tapped.
Warm olive oil in a wide heavy pan over medium heat. Cook chopped onion 10 minutes until soft and golden. Add pine nuts and cook 3 minutes until pale gold. Add rice and stir 2 minutes to coat in oil. Add currants, allspice, cinnamon, dried mint, salt, black pepper and 300ml water. Simmer 8 minutes until the water has been absorbed and the rice is still a bit firm (it will finish cooking in the mussels). Off the heat, fold in parsley and dill. Cool briefly.
Working over a bowl to catch any liquid: hold a mussel closed-side facing you. Insert the tip of a strong sharp knife between the two shells at the pointed end. Slide the knife along the top edge to open the mussel about halfway. Do not separate the shells at the hinge. Repeat for all mussels.
Spoon 1 heaped tsp of the rice filling into each opened mussel, closing the shell over the filling. The rice will bulge slightly out of the shell.
Arrange stuffed mussels tightly in a single layer in a wide heavy pan, pressed against each other so they cannot open during cooking.
Pour 3 tbsp olive oil and 200ml water over the mussels. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Place a heavy plate on top to weigh them down. Cover the pan with a lid.
Cook over medium-low heat for 25 to 30 minutes until the mussels are cooked, the rice inside is fully cooked, and the liquid has mostly evaporated.
Turn off the heat. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature with lemon wedges. Diners squeeze lemon into each mussel and eat by using one shell as a spoon. Best within 24 hours; refrigerate leftovers.
Tips
- Very fresh mussels. This is essential for a raw-preparation-style dish where they cook briefly. Buy from a trusted fishmonger and use the same day.
- Sweet and savoury spices. Allspice, cinnamon, currants and pine nuts together are the classical Ottoman signature. Do not skip any.
- Weigh the mussels down. During cooking, mussels want to open. The plate on top forces them to stay closed so the rice cooks by steam trapped inside.
- Serve at room temperature, not cold. Istanbul street stalls serve them at ambient temperature. Very cold mussels dull the flavour.
- Do not serve to anyone with a shellfish allergy. This is a raw preparation style; freshness is critical for food safety.
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