Beautyknot ~ My Skin Care Diary

Fresh Clams

This is my another kitchen ingredient. Clam is one of the bivalvia which produce in sea sand/mud or can be farmed. It is low fat and has nutrition like protein and minerals. Funnily enough, it commonly called as “Lala” (拉拉) in Malaysia. In Thailand, I always order (having 1~2 times max in a month) this dish whenever I eat up at local Thai-Chinese restaurant, the choices very limited here since the dish normally prepared in one style only, stir-fried with brasil leaves, Thai herbs, sauces and chilies. In addition, I still found few of the clams in plate were not opened and overall the clams were not clean up as per normal hygiene standard. Of course, well-prepared clams can always be seen in quality western restaurant here. Anyway, since I shop seafood at wet market, I never ordered clam in local Thai-Chinese restaurant anymore.

Clams usually available in wet market, depends on size and species, the price range from THB20 to THB100/kg. Normally the seafood in wet market is very fresh and surprisingly looks “clean” as well. To avoid unwanted risk of hepatitis or decease infection, clams must be cleaned and cooked thoroughly before serving. Open every single of them and clean with clean water before cooking. Discard those cannot be opened.

My trials at home

I normally steam or stir-fry clam at home, easy for me to handle because I’m not a good cook. There are many great recipes online, beside steam and stir-fry, you can boil in soup, bake in oven, steam with egg, grill with charcoal… etc. (Sounds like I’m brutal executioner….. -.-!)

Image credit : http://www.xinshipu.com/%E5%81%9A%E6%B3%95/%E8%9B%A4/

My most favorite is none other than Kam-Heong style, ie “Nice Fragranced”, it taste so good!! It called Kam-Heong Lala (甘香拉拉) in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, stir-fry with other main ingredients: curry leaves, dried shrimps, small red onions, red chilies, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, curry powder and seasoning, just looking at the main ingredient list, you know it tastes good though most food with curry would taste good. Another way that I liked, serving with pasta and wine, bring out the original freshness of clam. (^^v)

Image credit : http://sher.blogkaki.net/viewblog-54307

The author also shared the Kam-Heong  Lala cooking method (with pictures) in the article

 Image credit : http://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-capellini-with-cockle-clams-and/

The author shared many delicious clam recipes