Inspired by my recent travels in china, i have decided to cook with more seafood, shellfish in particular. I stopped off in the OKC asian market, Super Cao Nguyen. It is probably one of my favorite spots in the city. I was hoping for muscles, but they did not have any. Instead i got two bags of New Zealand Cockle Clams. Who knows what they are but they looked delicious. In china one of my favorite dishes was "spicy little seafoods". It was a mixture of different clams in a spicy garlic sauce. I wanted to keep the spice but add some more flavors, what better in the summer time than lemon grass and ginger and coconut.
I grabbed garlic, lemon grass, ginger, coconut milk, green curry paste, and thai bird chilies.
The ingredients are pretty straight forward. dice both the garlic and fresh ginger, keeping the ginger pieces a little larger. The lemon grass is a large stalk and very fibrous. I just slice it up into smaller slivers. You dont eat it, its just for flavor.
Toss the lemon grass, garlic, ginger, curry paste, and only like two bird chilies in some hot oil in a wok. After the ginger and curry are fragrant add the coconut milk. If it seems too thick add some veggie or fish stock.
Throw in the clams and simmer until they are all opened up.
Serve in a dish with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice.
The clams were small but super tender and flavorful. It was fun to grab the tiny clams with chop sticks, you had to be precise. I am now a master of chop sticks after my china excursion.
perfect summer appetizer.
