Māori Toroī
Dinner | New Zealand
Toroī is a traditional Māori side dish from Aotearoa (New Zealand), classically made with mussels or pipis and pūhā or watercress, then fermented until sour. This is my simplified home version where I skip the ferment and instead dress the mussels and watercress with garlic, chilli, salt and vinegar to get a similar bright, briny, slightly sour flavour served fresh from the fridge. Serve it on crackers, on toasted sourdough, alongside pan-seared white fish, over steamed rice, or at a hāngī.
Ingredients
- 1kg live mussels, cleaned and debearded
- ¼ cup (60ml) water (for steaming)
- 2 large bunches (approximately 300g) watercress
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 bird’s eye chilli, finely sliced
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1½ tbsp white distilled vinegar
Directions
CLEAN AND COOK THE MUSSELS
- Run the mussels under cold running water for 30 minutes to rinse out any grit or dirt.
- Drain the mussels in a colander and discard the rinsing water. Place them in a large pot with the ¼ cup of water. Fit with a lid and place over medium heat.
- Cook for 5 minutes, or until all the mussels have opened. Turn off the heat and strain through a colander, reserving the cooking liquid in a separate bowl.
- Rest the mussels at room temperature for 10 minutes until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the shells. Discard any mussels that stayed shut. Pull off any beards you find as you go (most farmed mussels come debearded, but check).
- Slice each mussel into 4 or 5 pieces, roughly 5mm thick. Place into a clean mixing bowl and transfer to the fridge while you prep the watercress.
BLANCH THE WATERCRESS
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Half-fill a large bowl with ice water.
- Pick the watercress leaves off the tough stems. Thick stems are fibrous, the leaves and thin stems are what you want. Discard the woody stems.
- Add the watercress to the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds. Strain through a colander, then transfer straight into the ice water to stop the cooking. Stir to cool evenly.
- Strain again and squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands.
- Roughly chop the watercress on a board and add to the bowl with the mussels.
COMBINE AND DRESS
- Add the sliced garlic, chilli, salt and vinegar to the bowl. Mix well.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
- Transfer to a clean jar. If the mussels and watercress aren’t fully submerged, top up with the reserved mussel cooking liquid. Seal with a lid.
- Serve straight away or refrigerate. Best eaten cold from the fridge.
Recipe notes
Mussels:
Try to find fresh, live mussels from a fishmonger or seafood counter. They should smell like the sea, not fishy, and any shells that are open should snap closed when tapped. Most farmed mussels come debearded, but check as you shell them and pull any stragglers off. Green-lipped mussels from New Zealand are the traditional choice if you can get them.
Watercress:
A peppery, mustard-family leafy green that grows in cold running waterways. In Australia it’s commercially available at specialty fruit and veg grocers. Store it in a bowl of cold water in the fridge, change the water daily, and it’ll keep for 3 to 4 days. If you can't find watercress or pūhā, you can substitute these for any bitter leafy green such as rocket, mustard greens, Dandelion Greens or even silverbeet.
Bird’s eye chilli:
I like to add some heat to this dish so keep the seeds in for extra spice or slice them out for a milder version. A red serrano, long red or dried chilli flakes all work as substitutes. Skip the chilli altogether if you’d rather it milder.