Tigers or mussel croquettes

How to prepare mussel croquettes .

This appetizer recipe is a version of the classic tiger mussels that we prepared in Santiago de Compostela during my university days.

It is a very simple and grateful recipe. It has the creaminess of the bechamel  and that taste of the sea that the Galician mussels give us, it is very important that they are of quality and in my opinion those from my land are the best.

It is still a different way of eating croquettes , much more original and easy. The measure of the filling is given by the mussel shell, so you only have to fill, coat and fry in abundant olive oil.

This cover has a common pattern with the croquettes , it uses bechamel and another ingredient to give it flavor, in this case the mussels. In Spain there are variations when preparing tigers.

It is common that in the Basque Country the compango (stuffing) goes underneath and the bechamel on top, in Galicia it is rather a mixture of mussel and bechamel.

There are people who add prawns, other prawns or another type of seafood or fish. You have them spicy or very spicy, rabid tigers . The recipe that I present here is the Galician type.

In this case they only have a little spicy flavor so that everyone can eat them. I hope you like them and dare to prepare them, do not forget to accompany them with a very cool beer.

Preparation of the Tigers or mussel croquettes

The fundamental thing for this recipe to be a success is to make a good béchamel , the base that decides if the tigers are going to be good or not. And as I said before, mussels are of quality.

1. We wash the mussels very well in cold water and remove all the impurities that come in the bag.
2. We heat a glass of water in a saucepan, when the water starts to boil add a bay leaf and then the mussels.
3. We leave them cooking 3 minutes and as soon as they are all open we remove them with a slotted spoon. Let cool and reserve on a plate. We are not going to throw the cooking water, strain it and leave it in a glass.
4. We remove the mussels helped by a good knife, we drag the whole mussel until the interior is clean.
5. We reserve all the meat of the mussel in a plate and we clean with the knife the shell of the shell in case it had any rest stuck to its surface. We wash the mussel shells well.
6. I usually buy peeled prawns, so all I have to do is chop them into small pieces. You can also use prawns or even squid (they are also very rich). We reserve on a plate.
7. We clean the strands and the broken shells that are stuck to the mussel well. Chop the mussels into small pieces with a good knife and mix with the prawns.

Preparation of the stuffing of the tigers

1. Chop the onions, garlic cloves and bell pepper into very small pieces.
2. Add oil to the pan and sauté the garlic cloves first for half a minute. Then the onion and finally the bell pepper. Everything over low heat for about 10 minutes until it is poached, it should not be crispy.
3. We taste and season. Add the prawns and mussels.
4. Add the 1/2 glass of white wine, half the glass of the mussel water, the fried tomato and the chopped cayenne.
5. Let it reduce for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
6. We stir with a wooden spoon a few minutes and remove from the heat.
7. Next we will prepare 1/2 liter of bechamel. Follow the directions in the recipe for béchamel sauce .
8. The recipe is for approximately one liter, so we will use half the amount in the ingredients: 1/2 liter of milk, 2 heaping tablespoons of flour, 2 of butter, a little salt, nutmeg and a pinch of black pepper if you like it.
9. Mix the filling of the mussel filling with the béchamel sauce.

Frying and final presentation of the lacón croquettes

1. We put everything together with a silicone spatula or some kitchen instrument with which it is easy to work the mixture.
2. Fill the mussel shells with a spoon and coat in beaten egg. We go through some breadcrumbs on both sides and leave it on a plate.
3. If you are few at home as in my case, you can prepare the tigers, wrap them in clear plastic wrap and freeze them. Let it rest in the fridge for a few hours.
4. Heat in a deep frying pan a good amount of soft oil for frying. Once hot we are frying the tigers .
5. We have to be careful to bathe the tigers with the oil on their upper face while they are frying. This will prevent them from opening and the filling comes out.
6. We reserve on an absorbent paper, and thus we will remove the excess oil. Delicious.

You can see all the photos of the step by step in the next album .

Tips and Recommendations for Stumpy Tigers

• We have to wash the shells very well because we are going to put them in our mouths. I usually wash them in the dishwasher, with a short program they are perfect.
• In addition after eating tigers do not throw the shells because the use for other recipes to the shells like scallops and scallops .
• To freeze the tigers (if they have leftovers), we place them in a source (without heaping). We freeze and after 12 hours we separate them and put them in a clean and closed plastic bag.
• To fry them it is not necessary to defrost them. Fry in very hot oil in 2 minutes, moving the pan back and forth to avoid having to touch them.