Taiwanese Raw Drunken Clams 鹹蜆仔

One of my favorite appetizers for Summer, and it’s also one of the easiest recipes I have! Served cold, the clams are “cooked” by the marinade, making them juicy, bursting with flavor, and perfect with rice or a nice adult beverage.  Mix Chinese rice wine, Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), soy sauce, garlic, and hot chili peppers to make the marinade. Sit the prepared clams in the marinade over night in the fridge, and voila! You’ve got yourself a refreshing, delicious, and savory appetizer! As easy as it is, there is one Pet-Bo (secret tip in Taiwanese) that you need to know to make the raw clams to open up. Follow me, and I’ll send the Pet-Bo and recipe your way!

Ingredients :

Clams x 300g
Chinese Rice Wine x 3 tbsp
Mirin x 2.5 tbsp
Soy Sauce x 4 tbsp
Garlic cloves x 2-3 (Smashed)
Hot chilli pepper x 1-2 (depends on how spicy you like it and how spicy the chili pepper is)

Recipe :

1. Use cheap salt to scrub on the clams and rinse. Repeat 3-4 times till the clams are nice and clean.
2. Put the cleaned clams into a freezable bag or container. Freeze the clams over night.*
3. In a glass container, mix together Chinese rice wine, Mirin, Soy sauce, smashed garlic and hot chili peppers.
4. Take the frozen clams out of the freezer and put them directly into the glass container with the marinade. Let the clams sit for 10 hours up to over night. The clams will be drunken and well marinated when thawed. 
5. Serve cold. Enjoy!

*Pet-Bo (Secret tips in Taiwanese), once the clams are frozen, it will open up on its own when it’s completely thawed!