Spicy Bean Paste La La (Bamboo) Clams Recipe

It's the weekend again! Time really flies huh? Anyway, today's feature is a simply delicious dish of spicy stir-fried la la or bamboo clams - a kind of clams mainly available in South East Asia.  As you can see, the pattern on the shells of these flattish clams resemble a bamboo-like pattern but I really have no clue why these sweet-tasting shellfish are called 'la la', if you have an idea, do let me know!  For such fresh clams, preparation is very quick and rather easy - for today, I am pleased to announce that I was given a bottle of Yuen Chun's new product, spicy taucu (bean paste) which made the cooking even easier.  

For added fragrance, garlic, ginger and chili peppers were sauteed first till aromatic before a healthy dollop of bean paste was added together with the clams.  Do note that as the clams will release moisture as they are cooked, I usually give the clams a quick fry with oil before cooking with the other ingredients.  All in all, an extremely quick, easy and delicious seafood dish you can whip up anytime at home.  If you can't find la la clams where you are, manila clams are a great substitute.

This feature is part of my Yuen Chun Recipes, an ongoing project on this blog.

Serving suggestion: with steamed rice

Ingredients:

1 kg live la la clams, 

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 bird's eye chili peppers, sliced

2 cm of ginger, slivered or sliced

Dash of Chinese Shaoxing rice wine 

1 1/2 tablespoons spicy bean paste (from Yuen Chun)

Dash of salt (only if required)

Method:

Firstly, heat up about 3 tablespoons of oil in a large wok.  Add in the clams and stir-fry for about 1 minute.  Remove from wok and set aside.

Clean your wok.  Heat wok until almost smoking.  Add 3 tablespoons of oil and swirl to coat.  Turn heat to low.  Add garlic, ginger and chili.  Saute until aromatic.  Add bean paste.  Add in clams and the dash of Chinese rice wine.  Turn heat to high.  Stir around until well coated.  Do a taste test and add a dash of salt only if required.

Turn heat to low.  Cover and allow to cook for about 3 minutes.  Remove cover.  Discard any clams that will not open.  Dish out and serve immediately.

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