Mejillones en Escabeche Gallegos

Mejillones en escabeche are Galician: plump mussels from the cold rías, opened just until tender, slipped from their shells, and steeped in a brick-red escabeche of olive oil, wine vinegar, pimentón, garlic, and bay. That sharp, smoky liquor makes this dish different from mejillones al vapor, mussels served straight from the pot. Here the waiting is part of the cooking.

The method that decides it is simple. Remove each mussel as soon as its shell opens. Leave the whole pot boiling until the last stubborn shell gives up and the first mussels turn rubbery; the vinegar will only tighten them further. Cook them in batches if your pot is crowded, then pour the escabeche over them warm, never fiercely hot. After a night in the refrigerator, the mussels will have taken on the vinegar and pimentón without losing their tenderness.

Far from Galicia, use the freshest rope-grown mussels you can buy. Prince Edward Island or other farmed blue mussels are smaller than many Galician mussels, so begin checking them after two minutes and expect a little less meat from each shell. If Pimentón de la Vera is beyond reach, use a good sweet paprika with a restrained smoky flavor; the escabeche will be less rounded, but it will still be recognizably itself. My Margin says only this: stop cooking while they are still plump. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.