Sambal Chili Clams 三巴辣椒蛤蜊...

This is a lovely seafood dish - the clams and sambal chili blend beautifully... the sweetness of the fresh clams plus the spicy sambal chili makes the dish very appetizing... and it goes very well with steamed white rice. Here’s the recipe…

The main ingredients are: clams or “La La” 蛤蜊, a special home made sambal chili paste 特制三巴辣椒酱, onions 大葱 and garlic 蒜头.

Here’s how I prepare the sambal chili paste at home - you will need some red shallots 葱头 and garlic (remove skin and rinse), dried chilies 辣椒干 (soak in water, rinse and drain), fresh chili paddies 小辣椒 (rinse and seed) and dried shrimps 虾米 (soak in hot water, rinse and drain). Blend all the above ingredients in a grinder till they become a paste. Stir fry the paste in a little oil till fragrant, add some asam juice (made from adding water to asam jawa 亚三膏 and squeezing out the juices), a little salt and brown sugar to taste, and continue frying till the sambal becomes thick and red... and it’s done!

p.s. this sambal chili is a nice accompliment for all types of seafood and can be used in many other dishes, for example, sambal baked fish fillet on banana leaf, sambal sotong, sambal fried eggs, etc... and these dishes are all lovely and delicious! Hope to share some of them here soon and do stay tuned.

Let’s start... fry chopped garlic in a little oil, add in sambal chili paste and fry till fragrant. Next, add in cut onions, clams (rinsed in cold water to remove sand) and a little rice wine; stir fry till the clams open up and voilà, it’s done! You may also garnish the dish with fresh parsley and/or add a few drops of lemon juice to it and serve.

Hope you try this savoury Sambal Chili Clams 三巴辣椒蛤蜊... Cheers!