Food - Drink
The Shellfish You Should Keep Miles Away From The Freezer
By SYLVIA TOMCZAK
When looking for seafood, we all want to buy the "catch of the day," or the freshest fish and shellfish available, but this isn't always possible, which is why frozen seafood is so popular. Most of these frozen options are high-quality and affordable, but there's one shellfish that you should always buy fresh and never frozen.
Frozen mussels should be avoided whenever possible. Fresh mussels have a luscious texture and incredibly complex flavor that's faintly sweet, with umami nuances of seaweed and mushroom, but freezing them drastically compromises their flavor and makes their texture icy and rubbery, due to their high water content.
If you must buy frozen mussels, know that store-bought kinds are often partially cooked. Blue Ocean Mussels recommends completely thawing and cooking the mussels for a short period to prevent overcooking, and reheating fully cooked mussels is even more of a challenge that must be done very slowly and gently.