NZ Green-lipped mussels - sedapppppp!!!

Before aku gi sini aritu, my brother was saying how lucky I would be ..coz I will have access to cheap, fresh and yummy NZ green mussels ...we all love mussels in the family (kecuali Jane) and very often berebut2 ajer ...so it was something yang I looked forward to ...but i did not see it or eat it till I was here for 3 months ....itupun kebetulan ajer ...masa jalan2 kat Eastbourne, jumpa banyak shell mussels kat pantai ...and i said jom gi carik mussels kat pantai ...but was told, mussels bukan nya terdampar kat pantai ..kalau nak kutip kena di kawasan dlm air (tepi pantai) yang berbatu2 ...haha but then Kak Sidah bagitau banyak jual kat kedai ..and we decided to gi beli and ratah ajer ...pucuk dicita, ulam mendatang ok ....

so we went to a supermarket and there I saw it ...sekilo cuma $2.60 and ada yang sekilo $6....and I was so rambang mata and keep on putting it into my plastic bag ...kak shidah kata it was too much ...so aku ketak balik nearly half yang aku ambik ...so in total i only ambik less than 3kg jer ($6 ++) ...but sangat teruja masa tu ..cam sakai lol

muka penuh keterujaan lol ...

sampai rumah Kak Shidah, aku ditugaskan to clean and cook the mussels ...hehehe ...i am used to cleaning mussels masa kerja di Italian restoren zaman undergrad aku di Newcastle dulu ....kena berus the kulit mussels tu and to tarik the beard ....and masa tarik janggut mussels tu, you will hear lah they are making sound hahaha si Nita was so traumatised sebab dia kesian dengar "rengekan" mussels tu masa aku tarik the beards!

yang belum dibersihkan lagi

sebesar tapak tangan ok! and very very fresh ....

sibuk posing ngan mussels sebab pertama kali dapat mussels kat NZ nie hahaha ...dari segala sudut nak ambik gambar ...so korang layan jer lah aku posing ngan mussels2 nie

since it was fresh, masak simple ajer ....with serai, tomato, bawang etc ....and as Kak Shidah predicted it was wayyyyyyyy too much lol ...so what I did was made it into pickled mussels like Chef Franco buat masa aku kat Newcastle dulu .....i mixed it with olive oil, vinegar, seasonings, and a touch of soy sauce (nie sendiri tambah) ..sampai rumah I add chopped tomatoes and corriander ...bertahan lama ..and i later used it in my fried rice and korean noodles ....

that same night, we also had laksa Sarawak ...adoiiiii 3 months aku mengidam ok ...and malam itu tercapat hajat ...tapi anita lagi best ..setahun setengah dia mengidam haha baru malam tu dapat merasa laksa Sarawak ...and it was awesome....sangat2 sedap!!! A taste of home ...in Wellington!!! Thank you Kak Shidah (not sure you are reading this or not lol)

muka penuh keterujaan ..hehehe laksa sarawak has always been my favourite! tapi tak reti buat sendiri

seafood fried rice ala Ejin ...with mussels and tuna ;-)