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2 tablespoons minced cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Pickled sushi ginger for garnish

Bring the sake and garlic to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the mussels, cover, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer until the mussels open, about 5 minutes. Drain in a large colander set in the sink and cool for a few minutes.

Collect any mussels from the colander that have fallen out of their shells, then pull the remainder out of their shells. Place the mussel meat in a medium bowl and gently stir in the shallot, soy sauce, ginger, cilantro, and sesame oil. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours. Place the shells in a large bowl, cover, and refrigerate separately as well.

Return one mussel to each shell half along with some of the marinade. (Of course, you will have twice as many shell halves as mussels; choose the largest and prettiest ones.) Top each with a small piece of pickled sushi ginger for garnish.

Variations: Substitute Japanese beer, such as Kirin or Ichiban, for the sake.

Add up to 1 teaspoon Chinese chili paste with the soy sauce.

Steamed Shrimp with Classic Cocktail Sauce

There’s nothing better than this American favorite. Feel free to adjust the horseradish or hot sauce to your taste. For an elegant presentation, place the shrimp in martini glasses and top with this classic American sauce. Makes about 6 appetizer servings (with 1½ cups sauce)

1 cup ketchup

¼ cup prepared horseradish

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped dill fronds

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

A few dashes of hot red pepper sauce to taste

1 pound medium shrimp (35 to 40 per pound), deveined but unpeeled

Mix the ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, dill, Worcestershire sauce, and hot red pepper sauce in a small nonreactive bowl. (The sauce can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

Place the shrimp in the layers of a tiered bamboo steamer. Alternatively, use a conventional vegetable steamer. Fill a large pot—one whose width matches the bamboo steamer or that accommodates the vegetable steamer—with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Place the steamer or basket over the water and cook until the shrimp are pink and firm, about 5 minutes. Remove the shrimp immediately from the heat to stop their cooking. Be forewarned—they are very hot. Serve warm or chill first in an ice-water bath, then in the refrigerator, before serving with Classic Cocktail Sauce on the side.

Shrimp Yakitori

Although yakitori means “grilled poultry” in Japanese, we think this classic, sweet, sticky sauce goes exceptionally well with shrimp. Consider standing the skewered shrimp up in a vase as a “bouquet.” Makes 18 shrimp on skewers

½ cup dry sake or white wine

¼ cup soy sauce (see Note)

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

18 large shrimp, preferably those that measure 15 to 20 per pound, peeled and deveined

18 bamboo skewers

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Whisk the sake, soy sauce, mirin, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. (The sauce can be made in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

Stir the shrimp into the cooled marinade and set aside for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the skewers in a baking pan filled with water for 15 minutes to ensure they don’t burn over the fire. Also preheat the broiler or prepare the grill for a medium-heat fire.

Thread a shrimp onto each skewer, starting at the tail end of the shrimp and threading it back and forth onto the skewer so that it straightens out, its natural curve bent open as the skewer pierces it three or four times. Reserve the marinade.

Broil the shrimp 6 inches from the heat source for 2 minutes or grill over medium heat for 2 minutes. Brush with the reserved marinade, turn, and continue