Ever since my mom started working abroad, I was taken care by my uncle and aunt all throughout my college years. In early 2015, my father went home for a short break, since then he was the one who took care of me. He is in charge of doing the chores during weekdays while I’m in for the weekends. My father has been having a hard time, choosing what food to cook every meal time. Beside from his limited knowledge about cooking, he’s too lazy to do that tedious job of mixing and all the chopping. He has been running out of ideas about recipes to cook. He got tired of cooking my favorite dish, which is Adobo. 

Dad:  “Are you not getting tired of eating adobo?”
Me:  “Huh?”
Dad:  “Aren’t you?”
Me:  “Well, it’s my favorite.”

Last night, when we were in the living room watching television with my uncle; he suddenly threw me a question. He just gave me a sigh after I responded to his question. I was actually taken aback by his question. It was out of the blue, that I thought there was really something wrong. After a minute of silence, he asked a question to his younger brother (my tito), which is currently seated in front of him.

Dad:   “Do you know how to cook green mussels?”
Tito:   “Isn’t it you need coconut milk for that?”
Dad:  “Yeah, the one nanay always cook every weekend.”
Dad:  “Do we need to put vegetables?”
Tito:  “I’m not sure.”

Their conversation went on and on, going down to their memory lanes. They recalled their childhood memories, reminiscing and the places they visited, the names of their playmates and their favorite dishes. I was there beside my father, glancing at them. I was fascinated how the two of them got serious and having a brotherly talk just because of green mussels.  After that, my father called my grandma and asked about the recipe. Nanay was too fast to answer. It was already past eight but good thing, nanay was still awake. He confirmed the ingredients and asked if it needs vinegar and soy sauce to it.

Today my dad cooked Ginataang Tahong, where-in the green mussels were cooked in coconut milk. My dad nagged me to bring some (baon) to work but I refused because I don’t want my coworkers to ask for it. What a greedy friend, aha.  It was so delicious that I can’t stop thinking about it. I am now regretting not bringing some for work. So, instead of sobbing and getting mouth water about those undeniably tasty green mussels, I have decided to make a post about it.

Ginataang Tahong is a flavorful green mussel dish in coconut milk. You will find a lot of different versions of this recipe. The base ingredients are green mussel, coconut milk, garlic, onion, ginger and your choice of seasoning. It might be a simple recipe but it is definitely appetizing. It will surely increase your appetite. We all know that Filipinos like incorporating coconut milk to their dishes. Most of us grew up in a place, where coconut trees were ubiquitous. No one owns those trees, so we’re free to climb whenever we want.

Try the recipe below:

Ingredients

• 2 kilo mussels, cleaned
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 2 packs of oyster sauce
• 3 garlic heads in medium size, minced
• 4 medium onions, minced
• 2 small gingers, minced
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 5 pcs of chili, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Sauté the garlic, onion and ginger.
3. Add the unshelled mussels.
4. Stir for a bit.
5. When it gets watery, wait until all the water is gone.
6. Pour in the coconut milk.
7. Let the coconut milk boil.
8. Stir it and let it simmer.
9. Season with salt and oyster sauce according to taste.
10. Serve with steamed hot rice. Share and enjoy!

My lunch was hella great. I had a gourmet meal with this inexpensive recipe. If you can’t afford to buy crabs or you’re on a hefty budget. You better try this one. The outcome also looks like baked mussels with melted cheese because the simmered coconut milk has this savory taste that indulges the meat.

PS.
Don’t kill me for having misleading title or whatsoever. This post is basically about my dad’s green mussel recipe and I wanted to share it to you guys and in future refer to this post if I had the chance to cook this. I also wanted to share their brotherly love momentum, aha.