04/10/2026
New on the autumn menu: Shetland mussels and smoked haddock in a creamy coconut tom yum (tom yum nam khon) 🌊🌶️
We build the broth first. Cherry tomatoes, lemongrass, galangal, coriander root, makrut lime and our nahm prik pao go into chicken stock and simmer until they’ve all got to know each other. Then smoked haddock and the mussels go in, the lid goes on and the heat goes up. A couple of minutes and a gentle shake later, the shells pop open.
We finish it the way you’d want a tom yum to taste: fish sauce, a little palm sugar, tamarind and a squeeze of lime. Then we add a slick of coconut cream to round it all off, with torn Thai basil and calamansi on top. It’s an amazing combination: a smoky, spiced, salty, sweet and sour broth cascading off the mussels, with a hit of citrus and Thai basil to finish.
Why Shetland? These mussels start life as wild larvae floating in the North Atlantic. They settle on ropes hung from longlines and grow on nothing but plankton carried in on the tides. There’s no feed and no chemicals. Each one filters up to 50 litres of seawater a day. Shetland grows about two-thirds of Scotland’s mussels, and they were the first of their kind in Scotland to earn MSC certification, back in 2012. They’re sweet, plump and properly sustainable, and they’re at their best right now, as the water turns cold.
Get a bowl of rice on the side for the broth. Trust us.
Photos from ICV | Culinary Photography 👊🏻
📍 72 Highbury Park, N5
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