#37 Sweet & Spicy Clams

It's the time of the month where cravings go haywire again for me!! Today, I felt like eating some shellfish coz I was feeling a little selfish. Lol.

It was already 8:30 PM but I felt a strong urge to eat clams or lala. Lucky for me Giant supermarket still had the last packet of it! This is a very simple and quick recipe!

Ingredients:
About 200g of clams with shells
1 onion, sliced (but not so thinly)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lemongrass, thinly sliced
2 green chilli padi, sliced into halves
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 tomato, cut into 6 wedges
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 tablespoon of tomato sauce
3 tablespoon of chilli sauce
Water
Salt
Sugar
Grounded black Pepper
Oil for cooking

Instructions :
First step would be, boiling some water, about a cup. And while waiting for the water to boil, wash your clams with salt like 3 rounds and then drain the water off. When the water starts to boil, add in the clams and leave it in there for about 5 minutes or so when you realise the shells start to open up. Turn off the heat, strain the water off, and give them a lil rinse.

Now for the sauce. Heat up some oil (not so much) in a frying pan or a wok, add in your onions, garlic and lemongrass all together. Stir them up until the onion caramelises. Afterwhich add in your oyster sauce, tomato sauce and chilli sauce. Give it a little stir, and add in around 5 tablespoons of water. It's going to be runny but it'll thicken up later. Add in a dash of salt, pepper and sugar. No exact measurements as it depends on how much clams you use. I just cooked a little. Add in your chillies and tomatoes, and stir again.

Now add in your clams. Stir them well. Cover with a lid to make sure it's properly cooked to avoid food poisoning, for about 4 to 5 minutes. Then you give it a final stir and turn off the heat.

For extra flavour and colour, I added some chinese parsley as garnishing. It made the thing taste better but it's optional. If you want the gravy to be thicker, then add in some corn starch. As simple as that! Enjoy your clams while they're hot! :)