You could say I have jumped on the seafood train as of late. While trying a new low carb diet and not eating a lot of meat, the boyfriend and I have gotten pretty tired of the standard soup or salad for dinner. On my weekly grocery run last week, I headed to the seafood section with every intention of procuring some salmon for dinner, but instead came home with clams. What can I say.. fishing them out of their watery bath seemed like too much fun to miss out on. Yeah, I may have been a bit bored at the market that day.
As far as seafood recipes go, this is a relatively quick and easy one. It’s pretty hard to mess this bad boy up, as the entire sauce portion of the dish really just involves tossing everything into a blender. For everything else, I added in a few tips here and there that will be super helpful, especially to those of you who aren’t too familiar with cooking clams. Once you have those guys down, everything else will come together quicker than you think!
This recipe is based on one from the god of all magazines, Bon Appetit.
Serves 4 hungry folks.
Ingredient List:
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch thai basil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 3″ knob of ginger
- 1 serrano chile
- 1 lime
- 15 oz can coconut milk
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 – 4 lbs manila clams
- 1 package rice noodles
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Kitchen Tools: saucepan with lid, pot, tongs, blender
Prep Work:
Scrub your clams under cold water to clean. Keep in a colander until ready to use. Slice your limes into wedges and set aside.
Separate the leaves of the thai basil and discard the tougher stems. Take the whole bunch of cilantro and use a knife to cut away the thick stems on the bottom. Discard the stems. Cut off the bottom 1/2″ of the lemongrass, remove the tough outer layers and discard them. Use the flat side of your knife to smash the more pliable inner layers a bit, and slice them into more manageable chunks. Cut top off serrano chile and remove seeds. Slice into 1/4″ thick rounds and set aside half for garnish. Peel garlic and ginger. Cut ginger into smaller chunks to give your blender a break.
Toss basil & cilantro leaves, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, serrano chile slices, brown sugar, fish sauce, and coconut milk into your blender. Blend until smooth. Keep it in the blender until ready to use.
Cooking:
Start boiling a pot of salted water for your noodles.
In your saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Carefully add in clams a few at a time (don’t pour them in, you don’t want to break their shells!). Cover saucepan with lid and cook until the clams are open, about 5-7 minutes. Use your tongs to remove all opened clams and place them in a bowl. If you have any clams that haven’t opened, leave them in the pot and cook covered for another 2-3 minutes until they open up, then place them in the bowl with the others. If they haven’t opened after that, discard them.
Add your green sauce to the clam juice in the saucepan and heat until just beginning to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.
Cook your rice noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse cooked noodles in cold water.
Divide noodles into bowls and divvy up the clams. Pour your green sauce over everything and serve with lemon wedges and sliced serranos. Enjoy!
Tips + Tricks:
- Removing the clams once they’re finished cooking keeps them from overcooking while you simmer the sauce. Don’t skip this step!
- Keep in mind that rice noodles like to stick together more than regular pasta, so you’ll have to stir them around more frequently.
- The clams that don’t open after about 10-15 minutes might be dead and therefore not edible, so you have to toss them. My rule of thumb is that if they’re cracked at least a 1/2 inch, they’re good to be devoured.
