If you are a regular reader of Rasa Malaysia, you should know by now that I looooove seafood, especially clams. Previously, I have written about these little creatures here and here.
While I like most of my foods with layers upon layers of complicated flavors or explosively spicy, sometimes I like things simple but intoxicating, such as the Drunken Clams dish above.
Drenched in Chinese cooking wine, these Manila Clams were bursting with natural sweetness of shellfish and oozed the rich aroma and fragrance of wine.
Now, I need to explain the cooking technique generally referred to as “Drunken / 醉.” By “Drunken,” it didn’t mean that I “fed” these clams with copious amount of booze (no, it’s not like Kobe beef!)–“Drunken” is a popular Chinese cooking technique where the main ingredient is steeped in generous amount of wine during the cooking process.
I used Manila Clams for this dish; as you can see, they were big, fleshy, and absolutely succulent. This is what I call 下酒菜, meaning a dish that goes very well with alcohol. Put simply, it’s a recipe for good times.
So, make sure you have Drunken Clams for your next late night get-together or casual hangout. And don’t forget that keg of cold beer plus a game or two of Poker.
Drunken Clam Recipe (Manila Clams with Chinese Cooking Wine) Recipe
Drenched in Chinese cooking wine, these Manila Clams were bursting with natural sweetness of shellfish and oozed the rich aroma and fragrance of wine.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Manila Clams
- 2 inches fresh ginger, cut into thin strips
- 2 stalks scallion, julienned
- 1 cup or 2 cups of Chinese cooking wine, rice wine or Shaoxing wine preferred
- salt to taste
- 1 dash white pepper powder
- 1 dash sesame oil
Instructions
-
Heat up a claypot or wok with some oil. Stir fry the fresh ginger until they turn light brown. Add in the clams, Chinese cooking oil and cover the claypot or wok for 3 minutes. Open the cover, add in the scallions and have a quick stir. Then, add in a dash of sesame oil, white pepper powder, and salt to taste. Cover the claypot or wok for another 1 or 2 minutes or until all shells are opened. Serve hot.
Recipe Notes
If you like your dish extra intoxicating and your clams really drunken , go ahead and use 2 cups of cooking wine!
To make the clams even better, add in a teaspoon of Japanese Mirin (sweet seasoning cooking sake).
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Merl
Can I replace the clams with mussels ?
Ruby
whats a substitute for rice wine?
Rasa Malaysia
You can use dry sherry, or Japanese cooking sake.
kimberly
hi there, i love all your recipes – great job! but whenever i attempt this dish, it turns out a tad too bitter. any ideas on how to overcome this? could it be due to the brand of shaoxing wine i used?
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Kimberly, yes, that might be the problem because different brand of Shaoxing tastes different. If bitter, use lesser. :)
Anonymous
I just tried your Drunken Clams with rice wine and man it came out great. Love your blog and keep the great recipe coming.
Rasa Malaysia
Glad you enjoy the drunken clams recipe. Keep cooking :)
Anonymous
Im drooling looking at those drunken clams. Your drunken clams recipe sounds easy to follow.
lucia
drunken clams? i’ve heard (and tasted) of drunken prawns but not drunken clams. well i guess any food can be cook to be ‘drunk’ if we want to. haha.
Rasa Malaysia
Chris – wow, I am so proud of you (and happy that you tried out my recipe). Wow, I guess you will have to throw more drunken clams parties. The next time, send me your pictures so I can post them them up under “Reader Submissions.” LOL!!
Michael – Sure…with or without cooking appratus that is. :P
Elmo – 99 Ranch has some big and fat ones. And yes, your pictures please for “Reader Submissions.” LOL!!
Lyn – you can prepare anything drunken…shrimps, lalas, clams, chicken, etc. ;)
lyn
looks so yummy
just like how my mum makes ‘lala’ hehe
i need to hunt for manila clams!
elmomonster
Lovely. Just lovely. I am salivating right now. This sounds so simple I think I will try it this week.
michaelooi
damn!! I’m hungry again!
you know, maybe we should hang out some time… (somewhere with cooking apparatus…)
Chris
I tried your recipe, and my friends loved it! We were having a small little party at my place, and the first serving was gone in 5 minutes. I then drove out, bought some more clams, rushed home, and made two more woks of bee bee’s drunken clams…goshh…that was real tiring, but the response was overwhelming…We just couldn’t resist those naughty little “drunk” clams. =P
thanks bee
Rasa Malaysia
Hakkahouse – welcome and thanks. I will check out your site.
ToniXe – :)
PE – You are correct, clam soup is so good with the shredded ginger. Great for winter. I will have to make it soon!
WMW – :P
Bayi – Wow, Teow Chew Porridge…haven’t had those in ages!
Chubbypanda – or we can pour your sake into the clams! LOL!
Stephanie – all clams are good, I have never had bad clams, oh well, provided they are fresh. Stale clams are nasty! Hahaha.
Maryeats – I remember you said that you don’t even like clams; have I convinced you yet? ;)
Tigerfish – if you are in the bay area, you should cook this dish yourself as you can get fresh clams there…
tigerfish
Love it! So simple yet tasty, I bet. Wanna try it some time if I could. How I wish I could try eating your clams…hahaha.
But I can only try cooking it.
maryeats
I need to stop looking at your site before lunch! These look so yummy!
Stephanie
Damn, those clams look good.
Chubbypanda
Sounds like a plan! Bring those puppies over and I’ll break out the sake. =)
– Chubbypanda
bayi
I used to keep the soup for eating with teo chew porridge! Yum….
Meiyen
wow wow wow….. so yummy! clams, always my favourite!!!!!! thumbs up for u, da clams look really good :)
wmw
Lovely….an intoxicating dish indeed! ;O)
Passionate Eater
Thank you Rasa Malaysia! My father has made me this clam soup, and although I never tried to make it myself, your recipe makes it sound so easy! Looks wonderful (like all of your recipes do)!
Also, thank you for the tip about dumpling restaurants in Southern California!
toniXe
yay, dream meal and night out ( in ), some drunken clams + keg od chilled beer ( Bud )& any game even poker + RM !
wow
Hakka House
I wanted to let you know how much I love your blog! I’m a Singaporean living in L.A., and I just started my own food blog. I would love it if you could link me (hakkahouse.blogspot.com) =)
Rasa Malaysia
Simcooks – yep, the juice was indeed tasty.
Teckiee – LOL.
Babe_KL – It’s really not that messy; just eat the flesh and toss the shells. You should try them at home sometimes. ;)
babe_kl
i tend to eat this outside haha too messy to clean up
teckiee
Very suitable for the drunken kung fu master!
simcooks
The “juice” from your clams look absolutely tasty!