Green Coconut Curry Clams
Can we talk about how freaking easy it is to make clams??? Why haven't you told me?! Reuben and I recently realized that the seafood market by our house is actually really incredible, clean, and fresh. We've been missing out on all this great seafood for the last 2.5 years! Shame on us. I feel like Asian seafood markets can easily swing into 2 extremes. It could easily be a little scary with questionable food handling techniques and with less than stellar smells floating around. I'm too much of a food germ wimp to step into those places. BUT Seafood Center on Clement is awesome and smells clean like the ocean. They have sushi grade tuna (um... poke recipe, anyone?!!), sweet and tasty shrimp, the meatiest clams, and so many other delicious sea creatures that I want to bathe in thai curry and coconut milk. Sorry, sea creatures.
The beauty of this recipe is that it takes like no time to have a super impressive and fancy looking meal on the table. And by no time I mean like 30 minutes or less! The clams are nestled in a warm and bubbly bath of green thai curry paste, creamy coconut milk, funky fish sauce, aromatics, brown sugar, and beer! If you're having friends over for dinner and want to welcome them with the greatest food smell ever, this is what you should make! The clams steam for about 5 minutes, depending on what type of clams you have, and then you just need to painfully wait a few more minutes for it to cool down so you don't burn your face off as you try to inhale everything in the bowl. Please please please PLEASE don't forget to slice up some crusty bread to sop up all that blissful broth. I guess if you're going carb or gluten free you can just drink that magic straight up. Just don't waste it, I beg of you!
This recipe makes me want to buy 10 pounds of clams and invite all of my friends over for dinner! I'm dying to have a dinner party soon. Whenever I have a dinner party I need to have a theme. Not like, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party themed. But like, maybe Moroccan Night or a Fall Harvest dinner. Okay, I guess those are equally as cheesy as a TMNT theme. I'm thinking of a color themed dinner party. Green Coconut Curry Clams. Turmeric (Yellow) Goat Cheese Toasts. Pinky Beet Pasta. Blueberry Pie with Blueberry Pie Crust! I'm just spit-balling here.
Anyways... ramble over. Go get yourself some clams!
Green Coconut Curry Clams
materials:
3 lbs. clams
1 tbsp olive oil
1" chunk of ginger - minced
3 garlic cloves - thinly sliced
3 green onion stalks chopped - greens and white divided
1 14oz can of full fat coconut milk
1 can of beer - we used a pilsner
1 cup water
3 tbsp green curry paste
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepepr
1 lime
steps:
1. Rinse the clam under cold water to remove any sand or grit. Inspect the clams and discard any that are cracked.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a dutch oven or big pot over medium high heat. Throw in ginger, garlic, and the whites of the green onions. Cook for 1-2 minutes until just browned and fragrant. Add in coconut milk, beer, water, green curry paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar into the pot. Give it a good stir to combine and bring the broth to a boil.
3. Once the broth is at a boil, carefully add in your clams. Cover the pot and allow the clams to steam for 5 minutes, until all the clams have opened up. Remove the lid and squeeze 1 lime over all the clams. Top with the remaining chopped green onions and serve with crusty bread.
* Different clams have different cooking times. We used manila clams, but little neck clams take about 10 minutes to open up.
* We used a lighter pilsner beer in our broth, but feel free to experiment with other beer types!