Seafood

Fresh Clams in Coconut Milk

Coconut milk gives a rich flavor especially with a combination of seafood and spices. Fresh clams in coconut milk is one of the favorite recipes you will love from the asian cuisine.

After my first attempt of cooking clams I wanted to make curry that would go well with rice. This time we went to the wet market little earlier than usual on saturday morning at about 9 a.m to get fresh clams. I was utterly shocked to see variety of shell fish that were sold in singapore and most of them were sold out. The fish monger who sold only shell fish told me I shoud have come early to see more of the fresh sea shells. So I was still late to see all the other varieties of shells? WOW! I haven’t seen these shells being sold even in my hometown although having lived all my childhood near the sea I was stunned and excited at the same time.

Pearl Conch/ Whelk | Singapore wet market | Kovan

Pearl Conch / Gong Gong

Obtuse Horn Shell

Cockles

But I was not too late to grab my fresh clams after all. Lucky us! This time I found clams with a size slightly bigger in size than the ones I bought the last time.

Clams

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

Fresh clams – 1 kg, cleaned (*see here)

Olive oil / Butter – 1 tbsp

Shallots – 2, finely chopped

Tomatoes – 2, finely chopped

Fish curry powder / Fish powder – 3 tbsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Coconut milk – 200 ml

Water – 1 to 2 cups, depending on consistency

Salt

Coriander leaves for garnish (finely chopped)

Directions

1. Heat a heavy-bottomed container with oil or butter on medium-high. Fry onion till translucent for a few minutes. Add in chopped garlic and ginger. I used ginger paste as fresh ginger was out of stock.

Ingredients1- clam curry

2. Fry the garlic and ginger for a few seconds then add tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes until slightly mushy or saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the seafood powder or fish powder and mix.

Ing2

3. Pour the coconut milk, turmeric powder and salt. Add 1 cup water depending on the thickness consistency for the curry.

coconut milk-turmeric

Simmer for few minutes and check for salt. Add more if necessary.

4. Add the clams and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 5 – 8 minutes covered on medium heat.

raw clams

Check to see if all the clams have opened. All of the clams will open by this time. Check for salt.

cooked clams

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or bread.

Clam curry_9676

More on shell fish recipes:

Spicy Clam Recipe – Mangalorean Style (DRY)

Flower Crab – Curry (Mangalorean Recipe)

Stay Healthy!

Spicy Clam Recipe – Mangalorean Style

Every time I see Clams, it reminds me of one my childhood memories of Mangalore visiting the beach during summer foraging for clams. When the tide rises the live clams that burrow in the sand come out and we dig in to catch them before they rebury themselves as they follow the waves. That day we caught large ones so pretty with beautiful designs on them I wished I could return them back to the sea. Those days are truly treasured!

Mangalore, famous for its seafood, is known for variety of local seafood delicacies. This recipe of spicy clams is also known as Kube Sukkhe (Clam dry) in konkani prepared with a common spice mix powder bafat which I always use in other recipes.

Preparation time: 5 minutes excluding cleaning time

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients

Fresh live clams – 1 kg

Olive oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Garlic cloves – 3, finely chopped

Onion (medium) – 1, thinly diced

Bafat powder / Fish powder – 3/4 tbsp

Tamarind – 3 seeds or 1 tsp paste

pinch of salt

Grated coconut – 1/4 cup

Directions

> How to clean Clams ?

+ If you buy fresh clams, place them in a large pot with cold water (tap water). The water must be a few inches above the top of the clams.

+ In a while you will notice them opening slightly or moving. Dipping them in water allows them to remove any sand or dirt within the shells.

+ Allow to sit for an hour. Then drain and rinse. Fill with a fresh batch of water. Soak for couple of minutes say 15 minutes. This will allow to get rid of any more particles of grit and sand.

+ Drain and rinse of any dirt. Set aside.

+ If you notice any cracked or damaged shells throw them in the garbage.

+ Observe each shell carefully. Any clam with open shells tap them with your fingers gently. If they do not close, they are likely to be dead so throw them out.

1. Heat a large pot with olive oil on medium heat and add mustard seeds. Once they sputter add chopped garlic and onions. Fry them for a couple of seconds.

Ingredients for Clam recipe

2. Add bafat or any seafood powder. Toss in grated coconut and tamarind water or paste with a pinch of salt. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Do not add any water or any more salt.

Clam ingredients | Easy recipe

3. Now, add the clams. Do not mix when the clams are closed. Cover and cook on medium for 5 minutes.

Cooking Shells | How to cook Clams

4. After 5 minutes if you notice they all have opened.

How to cook Clams | Easy cooking | Hungry?! That's what I made!

Mix to combine with the spice mixture. Turn off heat after a minute.

Spicy Clam Recipe | Easy | Mangalorean Style

Clam Recipe | South-Indian | Delicious Sweet Aroma

For more recipes on seafood click on the recipe below:

Flower Crab Recipe

Sweet Chilli Prawns

Black Pomfret Curry (Facebook link w/o pics)

Prawns with coconut milk

Coconut Shrimp Fry

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Stay Healthy!

Flower Crab – Curry (Mangalorean Recipe)

I have been wanting to make these crabs for so long but always had something else planned for the weekend. I have never cooked crabs nor had the slightest idea what should be done if the crab is alive, neither did my husband. I told my husband: “My job is to cook the crab yours is to kill it” (fair enough right? 😜). So, on Sunday we finally managed to wake up a bit early with excitement to get fresh crabs from the wet market near us. Hoping they were still available at the market we happily found them at one of the stalls I intended to buy from. I was expecting the crabs to be alive but they were slightly cold when touched, mostly frozen when transported from the port I believe, tied with rubber bands not moving. Husband: “My job is done!” with a grin. We let the person at the stall pick the crabs for us as he was better at picking the fresh ones, 4 huge crabs for 22$.

The process of cleaning crabs takes less than 15 mins for 4 crabs. Prepare a curry paste and let the crabs cook in the spice paste for 20 minutes. You must definitely give it a try by referring to pictures below 👏. Happy cooking!

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

Flower crabs 🦀 – 1.5 kg, 4 large size

Olive oil – 2 tbsp

Curry paste:

Grated coconut – 150 g / 1 1/2 cup

Red dry Kashmir chili – 6, medium long

Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp

Garlic cloves – 3

Cumin / Jeera seeds – 3/4 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Black peppercorns – 8

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Medium Onion – 1/2, roughly chopped

Tamarind – tennis ball size, soaked in water

Directions

>> How to clean Flower Crabs? It’s easy!

1. Turn the crab upside down. Lift the flap and discard.

2. Grab the bottom end in one hand and the upper end in the other. Lift the upper end of the shell and discard. Use a spoon to scoop out the soft roe (mostly in brown) out of them.

3. Remove the gills (spongy brown stuff) on both sides of the crab. I didn’t know those were gills until after I cooked them and realized they were inedible.

Gills_IMG_8198

4. Using kitchen scissors ✂ cut the walking legs (with hair) and discard.

Crab legs

5. Remove the entire claw of each crab (to make space in the cooking pot).

6. In the end give it a through rinse to remove all the inedible stuff. If your container doesn’t hold the crab body, cut them into halves.

The crab is all ready to be cooked now.

1. Prepare the curry paste by adding all the ingredients in a blender. Grind to a smooth paste with water.

2. Heat oil in a wide deep-bottomed container. Add the curry paste and 1.5 cups of water for consistency along with 1 tsp of salt.

3. Add the crabs to coat with the paste enough to stick to the crabs. Cover and cook on medium-high heat for 20 minutes.

In 20 minutes they are done! It reminded me of mom making this for us when we were kids.

We served them in separate plates with a bowl of rice 🍚. Used our hands and teeth (or crab Cracker) to bite and suck the juices. They tasted delicious and flavorful 😋😍. When they are hot juices ooz out as you break them apart and the flesh can easily be sucked out.

Even if you have never tried cooking crabs. This is still the BEST recipe for a beginner. I hope you enjoyed reading though the fun process of how to clean and cook a crab in this post.

Cook’s tip:

*For left over crabs store it in an airtight container in the freezer. Since seafood tends to go bad soon it’s best not to store it in the fridge.

Stay Healthy!

Sherryl's Good Food

Tag: Seafood Recipes

Fresh Clams in Coconut Milk

Ingredients

Directions

More on shell fish recipes:

Spicy Clam Recipe – Mangalorean Style

Ingredients

Directions

> How to clean Clams ?

Flower Crab – Curry (Mangalorean Recipe)

Ingredients

Directions

>> How to clean Flower Crabs? It’s easy!

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