[The Sustainable Seafood Blog Event] Teach a Man to Fish - Kerang Hijau Masak Habang

Sustainable seafood? Is it a kind of seafood? What about Ocean Wise?

Visiting Vancouver last summer probably was the week which I learned about a new thing that is related to environmental friendly. Back then, I was learning about 3R and sustainable development things which was a part of my university�s subject.

It was our second day in Vancouver, we decided to go to Stanley Park but we were starving, we hadn't had any breakfast yet it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. We decided to have something quick for our brunch at The Fish House in Stanley Park. At that time I ordered Steamed Mussels with coconut milk, lime, jalapeno and cilantro. It came with fries and aioli. I didn�t realize that my order has an ocean wise logo on until I was waiting for my food coming and read back the menu. I also saw some other menus have ocean wise�s logo on. I was wondering and kept asking to myself what it is. I looked up on the internet about that logo. I found the answer through the restaurant�s website.

Ocean Wise is a conservation program of Vancouver Aquarium which was created to help restaurants and their customers make environmentally friendly seafood choices. Following a menu assessment, restaurants can join the initial phase of the program by removing one unsustainable item from their menu and highlighting at least one sustainable seafood item with an Ocean Wise logo.

Sustainable seafood choices are those species that are abundant and resilient to fishing pressures, well managed with a comprehensive management plan, and harvested using a method that ensures limited by catch and minimal habitat destruction. Read more about sustainable seafood here.

This October is a national seafood month in the US. Thanks to Jacqueline of Leather District Gourmet who had such a brilliant idea to host a Sustainable Seafood Blog Event "Teach a Man to Fish".

Since my blog is a named after Indonesia, I decided to participate with the traditional dish of Banjarese, Kerang Hijau Masak Habang which literally translated as Banjarese Cooked Mussels in Red Sauce. Habang means Red. Banjarese itself is a group of people who live mainly around the city of Banjarmasin in southern Kalimantan.

In this recipe. I used combination of dried red chillies and dried new Mexico chillies, and also added strawberry tomatoes which have a sweet taste.

Tips
According to mbak Riama of Dekap, to get brighter red color of the sauce, use dried red chillies instead of fresh red chillies .

Ingredients:
700 g mussels
6 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tbsp tamarind juice
2 tbsp ground lemongrass (optional)
3 strawberry tomatoes (optional), cut
� -1 tsp coconut sugar

Grind into a paste
12 - 15 dried red chillies (I combined dried red chillies and dried new Mexico chilies)
6 shallots
4 cloves garlic
4 candlenuts, toasted
1 � tsp dried shrimp paste (Indonesian: terasi)
4 � cm kencur (it is also known as kaempferia galangal), you can substitute for ground or dried kencur
3 cm ginger

Directions:

1. Stir fry sliced shallot until fragrant, add a spiced paste, ground lemongrass and coconut sugar, and keep stirring until cooked.
   
2. Add mussels, stir evenly. Add tamarind juice and water. Cook until thickened. Serve.