Chili Clams Recipe

Most Malaysians love clams, especially those stir-fried with a spicy chili paste. I love clams; I grew up eating all sort of clams as my late mother would buy clams from the market and cooked them into a variety of delectable dishes, such as chili clams. (Check out my chili crab recipes here and here.)

One of my favorite childhood memories was the many clam digging picnics with my late parents, at the beaches in Penang, and Kedah—my mother’s seaside hometown. Whenever we went to a beach, we would dig up the sands in search of clams, or siput. We would spend hours until we harvested enough clams for dinner, I was always so excited whenever we went to the beach.

The few years when I was in the midwest of America, I was constantly craving for fresh clams. But alas, there were never any live clams at the markets there, due to the cold weather. Once in a while, our local Chinese restaurants would get some clams, but most of the times, the clams were stale and they were simply horrendous to eat. I am so blessed that I am now in the west coast where fresh and live clams are always available at Asian stores, and I can have my fix of chili clams whenever I like.

The briny and sweet flavours of clams pair perfectly with the spicy chilli and bean sauce in this chili clams recipe. Please take note that each clam will cook at a different time, so as soon as the shell opens up, remove from the heat immediately. If the clams don’t open up, they are probably bad and should be discarded.

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Miso Soup with Clams

Now that temperatures have been dipping into the 40s and low 50s at night, I’ve been making soups as often as I can. Sometimes they’re a one-dish meal, other times they’re just an appetizer. But even if the soup is just to whet my appetite for the main course, it helps to start your meal off with something warm and soothing.

I often order miso soup in restaurants, but seldom make it at home. Dashi, or Japanese soup stock, isn’t too hard to make, but  gathering up the kombu and bonito flakes requires a trip to an Asian market, which isn’t always convenient.

But last week I was flipping through Japanese Farm Food, a beautiful new cookbook of simple Japanese cooking using sustainable, farm-fresh food. I wanted to try almost every recipe in there, but an easy one that caught my eye right away was the Miso Soup with Clams. Instead of using dashi, the soup gets its flavor from the natural brininess of the clams and their juices, which, combined with sake, form the base.

The soup requires few ingredients, just miso paste, clams, sake, and mitsuba, or Japanese wild parsley, as a garnish. You can find mitsuba in Japanese grocery stores, but you can also substitute with scallions.

The Miso Soup with Clams takes only 10 minutes or so to make. It’s great an an accompaniment to sushi, noodles, or a precursor to meaty dishes like Japanese beef and rice, steak teriyaki, or braised pork belly.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

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Miso Soup with Clams

Makes 2 large bowls or 4 to 6 small bowls

1 pound Manila or small Littleneck clams1/2 cup sake4 cups water3 tablespoons red miso paste1 small bunch mitsuba, leaves removed, or substitute 1 scallion, thinly slicedScrub the clams in several changes of cold water to remove any excess sand.In a medium pot, combine the clams with the sake. Cover and bring to boil over high heat. Once the clams start to open (about 1 to 2 minutes), add the water, cover, and bring to boil again. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover and discard any clams that are not open. Carefully stir in the miso paste and continue stirring until the paste is fully dissolved.Ladle the soup and clams into individual bowls. Garnish with a few mitsuba leaves or sliced scallions and serve.

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More great seafood dishes to try:

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More miso soup dishes around the web:

Tagged as: Clams, Japanese, Recipes, Seafood, Soup

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Sake-Steamed Clams

Around this time of year I start getting nostalgic for summers in Massachusetts.

Well, certain aspects of summers in Massachusetts. I can do without the jam-packed subways every other day when there’s a Red Sox home game. And how loud and obnoxious the restaurants and bars in Back Bay get when fans spill out of Fenway. Or basically anything team sports-related. But I do miss plenty. The gorgeous red glow of the Charles River at sunset. The 4th of July fireworks on the Esplanade. The beaches on the North Shore. And oh yes, the clams.

To say that New Englanders adore clams is an understatement. We have beach-side celebrations centered around big platters of steamed clams and other crustaceans drizzled with butter. We have an entire summer festival devoted to clam chowder, during which you taste many samples of hot chowder outdoors under an even hotter sun. And every town along the shore with a patch of beach has at least a handful of clam shacks serving up fried whole-belly clams with tartar sauce, on or off a hotdog bun, an only-in-New-England thing that’s almost impossible find anywhere else.

As much as I’ve been craving a gigantic plate of fried clams with fries or onion rings or both, I also know something would get lost making it at home. Because, really, fried clams taste the best when you’re finally sitting down for lunch after few hours on the beach, a little fried yourself, in a still-drying bathing suit and sandy flip-flops.

To satisfy my craving for clams, I turned to a sake-steamed clam recipe from Food & Wine. It uses smaller clams such as Manila clams and other cockles, and is a breeze to make after cleaning the clams. You simply steam it in a combination of sake and water for about 4 minutes, then (and this is where I get my New England-style clam fix) top with a few bits of butter.  The original recipe called for an optional togarashi spice blend of cayenne pepper, sesame seeds, and seaweed, which I didn’t have, so I improvised with cayenne, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. It came out very well, though I may try this with bits of nori next time.

Do you have any favorite ways or preparing clams, or want to share some favorite clam dishes you’ve tried?

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Sake-Steamed Clams

Adapted from Food & Wine

Serves 4 as an appetizer or as part of a multi-course meal

2 pounds Manila clams, New Zealand clams, or cockles1 tablespoon kosher salt or sea salt1 cup sake1 cup water1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 4 or 5 pieces1/2 teaspoon sesame oil1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper2 scallions, thinly slicedPick through the clams and discard any that are not tightly closed (or close when tapped gently on the counter) or have chipped shells. Fill a large bowl with cold water and stir in the salt. Add the clams and let stand for 1 hour. (This draws out sand from inside the shells.) Drain the clams and rinse them well. If the shells seem gritty, scrub the outsides gently with a clean brush.In a deep saucepan, combine the sake and water and bring to a boil. Add the clams, cover with a lid, and steam for about 4 minutes. Uncover and discard any clams that have not opened.Ladle the clams and broth into a large serving bowl. Scatter the butter pieces over the clams. Top off with the sesame oil, sesame seeds, cayenne, and scallions. Serve immediately.

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More seafood recipes to try:

Tagged as: Clams, Japanese, Seafood

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Udon with Clams and Shiitake Recipe (Vongole Udon)

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March 15, 2012Udon with Clams and Shiitake Recipe (Vongole Udon)

I loved the rusticity and brilliance of the Fukushima straw-wrapped tofu but after I made it the other day, I thought of this modern Japanese twist on an Italian pasta dish. Vongole udon is something I order at Musha, an izakaya in Santa Monica, California. It’s a boisterous Tokyo-style (read non-traditional) drinking establishment where you can get great bar nibbles and pitchers of beer for about $12.

Musha’s menu is full of crazy concoctions, such as the “Tofu World” menu page, where I discovered the tofu fries that are included in Asian Tofu. There’s a risotto made with medium-grain brown rice and stirred tableside in a giant wheel of Parmesan before it’s served to diners. Their pickled mackerel is torched tableside for a little show.

Along with the fries and fried chicken, we always order the “Vongole udon.” It’s a slightly brothy bowl filled with chewy soft udon, garlic, a hint of butter, fresh mushroom and lots of clams. Instead of parsley, Musha garnishes with cilantro.

There’s a slightly smoky edge from dashi. When I went to make it for a quick lunch early this week, I used purchased udon that came with a soup packet, which employed a bit of for the broth.

There’s MSG in that seasoning packet but you’re not going to use a ton of it. To avoid the MSG, use dashi stock and lightly season it with light-colored soy sauce, mirin, and salt.

RECIPE

Udon with Clams and Mushroom

Small (1-1 1/2-inch wide) manila clams will yield terrific flavor. I buy mine from a Chinese market and scoop them from a tank. Ask you fishmonger for the freshest ones. Mussels can be subbed for clams. The starch from the noodles help to thicken the broth.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 to 6 as a snack

1 to 1 /4 pounds manila clams

2 packages fresh or thawed, frozen udon noodles (about 14 ounces)

Generous 1 teaspoon seasoning from the flavor packet that comes with the udon noodles

1 1/3 cups water

2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 green onion, green and white parts, chopped

4 large shiitake or regular white mushrooms, stemmed and each cut into 8 wedges

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

1. Wash the clams under water and drain well. Set aside.

2. Open the udon noodles and keep them by the stove. In a cup, stir together the udon soup seasoning with the water. Set aside.

3. Heat a wide saucepan or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and let it sizzle and melt. Add the garlic and half of the green onion (try to most of the white part in at this point). Stir around for 15 seconds until aromatic.

4. Throw in the mushroom and cook, until fragrant. The mushroom will absorb the butter. Add the clams, stirring for about 1 minute, until they start opening up. Add the seasoned water, give things a stir, then cover.

5. Allow things to bubble, shaking the pan on occasion for several minutes, then check on the clams. When they’ve opened up, use a slotted spoon to scoop them and the mushroom from the pan into a bowl. If a few don’t open, leave them in the pan and cook longer till they do (if they never open, discard them). It’s fine if some mushroom remain in the pan.

Adjust the heat, if needed, for the liquid to boil, then add the udon. Stir gently to loosen the noodles. When they’ve plumped up and softened, return the clams and mushroom to the pan. Toss in the remaining green onion (save some for garnish, if you wish). Gently stir to combine and reheat, then dish out into 2 shallow bowls. Crown with the cilantro. Eat with spoon and fork.

Related posts:

Homemade Udon (if you want to get fancy)Cold udon (for when the weather gets hot)Furikake Caramel Corn (an addictively good nibble by LA-based chef Roy Choi)Spicy Asian chicken wings (a Southeast Asian twist)Korean fried chicken (a Korean pub food favorite)Kaffir Lime Fried Chicken (based on Michael Ruhlman’s recipe in Twenty)Fukushima straw-wrapped tofu (go vegan and rustic)Posted in Asian Tofu, Recipes: All, Recipes: Fast and Easy, Recipes: Japanese, Recipes: Main Course, Recipes: Noodles, Recipes: One-Dish Meals, Recipes: Seafood | Permalink

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Comments Udon with Clams and Shiitake Recipe (Vongole Udon)

I loved the rusticity and brilliance of the Fukushima straw-wrapped tofu but after I made it the other day, I thought of this modern Japanese twist on an Italian pasta dish. Vongole udon is something I order at Musha, an izakaya in Santa Monica, California. It’s a boisterous Tokyo-style (read non-traditional) drinking establishment where you can get great bar nibbles and pitchers of beer for about $12.

Musha’s menu is full of crazy concoctions, such as the “Tofu World” menu page, where I discovered the tofu fries that are included in Asian Tofu. There’s a risotto made with medium-grain brown rice and stirred tableside in a giant wheel of Parmesan before it’s served to diners. Their pickled mackerel is torched tableside for a little show.

Along with the fries and fried chicken, we always order the “Vongole udon.” It’s a slightly brothy bowl filled with chewy soft udon, garlic, a hint of butter, fresh mushroom and lots of clams. Instead of parsley, Musha garnishes with cilantro.

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Kam Heong Clams (Golden Fragrant Clams)

Kam Heong Clams pictures (1 of 4)“Kam Heong” is a signature Malaysian stir-fry style that is renowned for the fragrance imparted during the cooking process, hence the Cantonese term “Kam Heong (??)”, which means “Golden Fragrance”. This one-of-a-kind style of stir-frying incorporates ingredients from Malay, Chinese, and Indian cooking to produce one of the most mouth-watering palate I have ever exposed my taste buds to.

The main ingredients that give the “Kam Heong” dish its unique taste are fiery bird’s eye chilies, aromatic curry leaves, crispy bits of dried shrimp, savory curry powder and soy bean paste. Stir-frying these ingredients together yields a sauce that goes well with chicken, crab, squid, shrimp, pork and especially clams. Kam Heong Clams (????) or Kam Heong Lala (known in Malaysia) is one of the most popular hawker creations “Dai Pai Dong” (???) (Cantonese for “open-air food stall”). I have cooked plenty of styles in clam dishes, eg. Thai-style Hoy Lai Ped, Taiwanese-style Clams, Japanese-style Asari No Sakamushi, and Kam Heong Clams is by far my favorite recipe for clams.

Sometimes the most romantic setting for Valentine’s Day can be as simple as an exotic and seductive seafood dish and a bottle of wine. I am sure Kam Heong Clams is one of the dish to impress your loved one and hopefully you can make this in time for the special day, if not, any other day.

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Thai-style Steamed Clams

Thai-style Steamed Clams pictures (1 of 6)

A few weeks ago, when my friend Eat A Duck I Must came to shoot my cookbook promo video for me, I made her a killer pot of Penang Assam laksa. After she left, all the remaining spices had been sitting in my fridge in a dark corner—lemongrass, bird’s eye chilies, galangal, and lime juice. Last week, my market was having a sale of Manila clams and I thought about a great recipe that would make use of the spices. I made this yummy Thai-style steamed clams…

This steamed clams dish is everything Thai food is all about: hot, sour, aromatic, and addictive. Other than the spices, the secret ingredient is coconut water. You can get canned coconut water at Asian stores, however, water is fine as the clams are naturally briny and flavorful. I must say that the coconut water does add a subtle sweetness to the overall dish, and pairs perfectly with the exotic aromas of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

Try this Thai steamed clams recipe the next time you have some Thai ingredients at hand. I am certain you will enjoy the great taste.

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