Relyenong Tahong (Stuffed Mussels)
Relyenong
Tahong (Stuffed Mussels)
Relyenong
Tahong or Stuffed Mussels make a great appetizer. This can also be enjoyed as a
main dish with rice and ketchup. The Philippines has a bountiful supply of
mussels (and oysters too). These come-in with a lower price compared to other
seafood, which makes this an ideal choice for many Filipinos.
Aside
from large mussels, this Stuffed Mussels (Relyenong Tahong) recipe makes use of
ground pork, bacon, and seasonings for the stuffing. The ground pork is a usual
ingredient for Filipino Relyeno (also spelled as relleno). You will notice that
dishes such as rellonong posit (stuffed squid), rellenong alimasag (stuffed
crab), and relyenong talong(stuffed eggplant) make use of ground pork most of
the time. The bacon that we are using for this recipe helps to enhance the
flavor of the dish. Believe me, you will notice the huge difference if you
follow the exact recipe.
I
prepared the mussels by soaking them in hot water for a few minutes in order to
let it open and clean the impurities. It is also a must to remove the other
piece of the shell; we will only use the side with the mussel meat on.
stuffed
mussels rellenong tahong
Instead
of frying, we will bake these stuffed mussels. It saves us some cooking oil and
some clean-up time too. It also helps melt all the fat from the pork and bacon,
which is better. I enjoyed this dish with warm steamed rice and banana ketchup – this is how I usually eat this type of
dishes even when I was a kid.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 16 to 20 pieces mussels, cleaned and other shell removed
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 strips bacon, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 /4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well until everything is blended.
- Scoop around 1 to 1½ tablespoons of mixture and stuff it into the mussels. Do this step until all the mussels have stuffings.
- Arrange the stuffed mussels on a baking tray.
- Preheat oven to 370F.
- Place the tray with stuffed mussels in the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and arrange in a serving plate.
- Serve with banana ketchup.
Share and enjoy!
