[Recipe] Buttered Clams

 I had an urge for clams earlier this week, after the hubs and son wiped off the asahi butter clams we had as a side dish for lunch at a japanese restaurant. (*sulk) So I decided to try to  re-create this dish!

My original plan was to steam bamboo clams with garlic, ginger and chilli but finding these clams proved to be a challenge. It's the case of : when you want it, you can't find it!  But I was very happy that I managed to find fresh lala clams, those still in the tank, at Sheng Siong. It costs me $3.80 for almost a kilogram of clams. Very cheap I think, versus the price we paid for a small portion at the restaurant.

When I got home, I chilled the whole bag of clams in the fridge. Only to find out later from Jennifer that I should be soaking the clams in water so that they will "spurt" out the the sand and salt out of the shells, for at least 1/2 an hour. So I did! And a quick info from Mr Google told me that I should also clean the shells! So I scrub-a-dub-dub and gave the clams some back rub. Or was it front? Anyway..

Here's the ingredients to my dish :

- Lala clams (approx.1kg)

- Butter (I used about 1 tbsp scoop)

- Garlic (the more the merrier for me!)

- Chopped chinese parsley (this is my fave! adds flavor to the dish)

- 1/4 rice bowl of hua tiao jiu (chinese cooking wine - cos I don't have the ang moh white wine)

- 1 tsp of light soya sauce 

- grounded black pepper (depends on your preference, I added about 3-4 dashes)

I used my stainless steel pot to cook this because I don't want it scratching my chinese wok. With medium heat, melt the butter but be mindful not to let it get burnt. Throw in the garlic and stir fry a little before putting in the clams. Put in the chopped parsley, cooking wine, the soya sauce and black pepper. And about 1/2 rice bowl of water. Give it a good mix, cover the pot and let it cook for approximately half and hour or until the clams are opened up which is indication that they are cooked.  Do a taste test before serving - it could be a little salty because of the butter so adjust it by adding more water if necessary.

And ta-da! My first home cooked buttered clam dish! Sweet and succulent! My family loved it. Cooking with butter made a difference. I think this would go extremely well served with spaghetti too! Try it!

Oh and if anyone knows where to get em' bamboo clams, please leave a comment with the place where I can find them. Thanks!

Photo taken with my iphone4.

 Till the next post, have a blessed week!