Seafood Stand · Istanbul Waterfront

Midye Dolma (Stuffed Mussels)

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Vendors keep opening shells until you tell them to stop, then count the empty shells to settle the bill.

Large black-shelled mussels are pried open, packed with a fragrant mixture of spiced rice, pine nuts, and currants, then pressed shut and steamed tightly stacked in a wide pot so they hold their seal. Vendors sell them cold from handcarts along the Bosphorus and Istiklal Street, cracking each shell open on the spot and handing it over with a wedge of lemon.

Why it's made this way: The spiced rice stuffing belongs to the wider Ottoman dolma tradition, and mussel vendors, many from Mardin in the southeast, made midye dolma a fixture of Istanbul and Izmir streets.