The more traditional version of this dish is Ốc xào me, or snails with tamarind sauce. For my North American context, snails aren’t necessarily an easy sell and they’re also not exactly easy to find as an ingredient....
There’s a case to be made for making this as the recipe suggests, with actual live mussels in the shell. It’s more work, but the oceanic flavor of the fresh mussels adds an undeniable complexity to the pasta....
After having great paella in Spain, I’ve accepted that anything done in a normal home kitchen isn’t going to be quite as transcendent. To the extent it can be made at home more successfully, the trick is replicating the conditions a “traditional” one might be cooked under....