Bé Ù's Vietnamese-Inspired Steamed Lemongrass Clams
Steamed Clams with Lemongrass and Ginger
Ingredients for Clams
- 3 pounds live Manila clams
- 8 cups water and (set aside ¼ cup for later)
- 4 tablespoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal brand, use only 2 tablespoons if using table salt)
- 3 lemongrass stalks
- 1 piece of ginger (size of 3 thumbs)
Ingredients for Dipping Sauce
- 1 piece of ginger (size of thumb)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2-4 Thai or bird’s eye chilis
- 3 ounces Water
- 2 ounces fish sauce
- 1 ounce white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 4 tablespoons sugar
Directions
Making the Dipping Sauce
Prepare the dipping sauce by: mincing 4 cloves of garlic; peeling and finely chopping 1 piece of ginger (or better yet, chop ginger then crush in a mortar and pestle); and thinly slicing 2-4 Thai or bird's eye chilis (use more or less according to taste).
Mix 3 ounces of water, 2 ounces of fish sauce, 1 ounce of white vinegar, 2 teaspoons of lime juice and 4 tablespoons of sugar until combined. Then, add chopped garlic, ginger and chilis. Set dipping sauce aside for serving.
Prepping and Steaming Clams
Start by "purging" the clams. Clams live buried in the sandy bottom of the ocean floor, resulting in accumulated grit and sand in their shells. You can remove that sand before cooking by "purging" the clams. The process is simple: mix 8 cups of water and 4 tablespoons of kosher salt together to create a salt water soak. The resulting liquid should be salty like sea water (3.5% salinity). Let the clams soak in the salt water solution for approximately 1 hour to purge impurities.
While clams are purging, prepare lemongrass and ginger. Prepare lemongrass by breaking stalks in half, using only the bottom half closest to the root. Cut the bottom halves into 4-inch chunks. Set lemongrass on a cutting board and use a mallet, rolling pin or pestle to crush stalks and release flavor.
Prepare ginger by slicing into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices with skin still on. Set ginger on cutting board and use mallet, rolling pin or pestle to crush ginger slices and release flavor. Take care not to completely break ginger slices apart.
After soaking for 1 hour, remove clams from salt water and place into a strainer.
Place a pot with fitted lid onto a stove and turn on medium heat to pre-heat for 2 minutes. Add lemongrass, ginger and 1/4 cup water into the pot and cover with lid. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add clams to the pot and cover, shaking pot periodically to apply even steam heat to clams. Open lid every 3 minutes to check on clams, quickly removing any clams that have opened and place into a serving bowl.
After 9 minutes, remove any clams that have not opened and dispose. These clams should not be consumed.
Pour all contents of the pot — clams, lemongrass, ginger and juices from the steamed clams — into a serving bowl.
Serving: Serve clams with small bowls of dipping sauce. When eating, dip clams into sauce, using the clam shell as a natural spoon and enjoy!
Attribution
This recipe is courtesy of Uyên Lê of Bé Ù
