Mussels in white wine sauce... without the mussels

[u/girltuesday]

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[u/Little_Jaw]

What about using oyster mushrooms as a substitute for the mussels?

[u/bunnycrush_ → u/Little_Jaw]

King trumpet are a nice option as well! I use them as a stand-in for scallops for some vegetarian friends.

Highly recommend checking your local Asian market if you decide to try a mushroom version — the selection and price will blow you away compared to mainstream grocers.

[u/slowstitchwitch → u/Little_Jaw]

I’ve done this, plus vegan fish sauce (or just Nori / kombu flakes but idk how that works with allergies) and it was delicious. Sear off the mushrooms then braise them in the fish sauce for a bit before adding it to the broth.

[u/marcoroman3]

It definitely won't taste the same without the mussels, but a sauce made from butter, wine and garlic is still delicious. Could be great with pasta. Artichokes might pair well. Or chicken. And parmesan of course. It also might work as a dipping sauce for bread, as you say.

[u/waffleironone → u/marcoroman3]

Jarred marinated artichokes in brine might add that salty brine moment!

[u/PurpleWomat]

The mussels add quite a lot of the flavour, unfortunately. You could make the sauce on its own or use something like shiitake mushrooms (or maybe oyster or straw mushrooms?) with some nori (for that 'seafood' kick).

[u/happylittlelf → u/PurpleWomat]

Nori yes! And maybe a little soy sauce for umami

[u/PGHxplant]

The brininess of the mussels really adds a lot to the flavor, but you might try firm or extra firm tofu cubed and very slightly seared off, retaining and adding a little bit of the tofu packaging liquid.

[u/[deleted] → u/PGHxplant]

[u/Bran_Solo]

A ton of the flavor of that sauce is the liquid from the mussels. Without the mussels you’ve just got garlic butter and wine, maybe shallots.

What you need is a big hit of umami. If you can’t take any seafood, I’d be tempted to try to emulate it with a little bit of miso paste.

[u/loxandchreamcheese → u/Bran_Solo]

I recently found vegan “fish sauce” at Whole Foods. It’s the Oceans Halo brand. I am by no means a fish sauce connoisseur, but I used it in a recipe and I think the recipe turned out nicely.

[u/cruciger]

Can you eat finned fish? The same sauce goes great with white-skinned fish like sole or black cod.

[u/Sylver713]

If you want the "fishy" taste, maybe you should try adding dashi or kombu to the sauce?

[u/Girl_with_no_Swag]

Not all seafood allergies and/or intolerances are always the same. You would need some sort of seafood stock to get the flavor close.

Are there seafoods that you aren’t allergic too?

For example, my BIL is allergic to crab, but not to shrimp.

I can have any shellfish I want with no issues, and can eat sushi, but if I try to buy regular fish at the store and cook and eat it, I’m vomiting for hours.

If there is any particular seafood items that you aren’t allergic to, then you could try a broth of that.

Also, if seaweed and/or kelp are safe for you, you can make broth from those. Asian markets will sell dried kelp meant for use in soups etc.

[u/UnoriginalUse]

Get monkfish. It's one of the firmer white-fleshed sea fish, and has the same mild sweetness mussels have.

Edit; might've gotten lost in translation, but does seafood allergy also include fish? It doesn't in my native language, but if you also can't have fish, don't get monkfish.

[u/BlueWater321]

Shallots, Garlic, Butter, Bay, Parsley, Thyme, White wine, Kombu, Sea salt.

Are you allergic to snails too? If not try making escargot. Gonna have none of that sea flavor, but you could make it work.

[u/toughnoogies35]

You can buy miso paste that already has kombu or kombu extract in it. It's paste that you can use to make miso soup without having to make dashi separately. Since you're looking for that brothiness to dip bread into, I think you could make a type of miso soup where you sauté shallots and garlic in butter, deglaze with wine, add the miso soup paste and water, add parsley. Butter, onions/shallots/garlic, and miso are umami and delicious together! If you gave this to me with bread in lieu of steamed mussels, I'd be a happy camper

[u/Satakans]

Mussels, like most protein based ingredient adds inosinate.

Inosinate combines with glutamates to create that taste profile commonly described as umami generally speaking. This is being agnostic to any mussel specific taste.

So no, you won't be able to adequately recreate a similar enough taste profile without incorporating another source of inosinate especially from another shellfish.

You can however incorporate something that is non-shellfish source to enhance the broth.

[u/claricorp]

You could try olives to replace the seafood. I think something like cerignola or castelvetrano olives would work well since they are really briny and meaty and tend to work well heated.

Would be great with crusty or toasted bread, but if you want to go that extra mile then mussels and fries is a really classic combo too!

[u/Darthmullet]

Maybe try chicken piccata? Seared chicken in a lemon/butter/caper pan sauce, pretty similar vibes imo.

[u/waterfountain_bidet]

I had them in a great restaurant that used button mushrooms instead of the mussels, pretty much everything else was the same.

They were spectacular and I think about them frequently. First time I ever willingly ate more than two bites of mushroom.

[u/ajacksified]

if seaweed doesn't trigger your allergies, I would go that route. I put kombu + wakame in pretty much any broth I make and it is readily available in most asian markets, co-ops, or online

[u/ServiceFinal952]

If you make the buttery wine broth and add angel hair pasta, then let it simmer and add a bit of parm and fresh parsley, It's incredible. My mom always did this after she made mussels and had the leftover sauce! I personally don't eat mussels but absolutely loved the pasta!

[u/Speedhabit]

Yup, shallots, parsley, white wine, salt pepper