Blood Cockles. You either love it or hate it. Both me and my husband loves it. My son eats it too.
My father used to buy 5kg of cockles to make his famous chilled dark soy sauce cockles. Each time he made it, he will bring some over to him. I tried and tried but I just couldn't get the taste of cockles that my father made. He even bought the dark soy sauce to me once but still I just could get the right taste. His is still the best!
I had wanted to try my hands making my father's version of chilled cockles but realised I didn't have dark soy sauce with me. So change of plans. :P
This is (another) replica of what we have tried at Putien Restaurant sometime back. I shall try to conquer my father's revision another time.
* Giving the cockles a good 'body' scrub. Hate doing it but it's all worth it. *
Ingredients:
- 350g Cockles
- 1 Red Chilli, de-seeded and chopped finely
- 2 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 1/2 tablespoon Mirin or Chinese Cooking Wine
- 1/2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
- Chicken Powder or Salt to taste
How to do it:
- Prepare the garlic first by heat oil in pan.
- Add in chilli and Garlic and stir-fry till fragrant but not browned.
- Add in Mirin, Light Soy Sauce and Chicken Powder. If you are using Chinese Cooking Wine, add a pinch of sugar too.
- Stir to coat well.
- Let the seasoned garlic cool.
- Now, scrub the cockles clean. I used a toothbrush here.
- Soak clams in salted water to let it 'spit' out sand.
- Boil a pot of water enough to cover the cockles.
- When the water is boiling, turn off fire and throw in all the cockles.
- Drain them out in 3 seconds. *1
- Place them in cool water or normal tap water and drain so it's not too hot to handle. *2
- Remove half the shell and any dirt that maybe be there.
- Place some seasoned garlic on each cockles and place then on a dish.
- Chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes. *3
Note:
- I blanched then for 3 seconds here. If the cockles you bought are bigger or if you preferred them more cooked, ie, less bloody, blanch for 5-7 seconds. Anything longer than that, it's likely that will be cooked. *1
- Cool the blanched cockles partially is to stop it from continue cooking and also to make it less hot to while removing the shells. *2
- The cockles taste better when chilled but if you can't wait, go ahead to have it immediately. *2
You know, I'm no good in eating cockles but your seasoned garlic looks sinfully tempting! I would learn this recipe because my hubb is a die hard fan of cockles.
ReplyDeletehello, glad to see you back.
ReplyDeletei can't get fresh blood cockles in australia. but they do sell frozen ones. any tips on how to handle frozen cockles? will they turn out to be as yummy as fresh ones? does the flesh shrink badly?
@Yvonne, try making this for your hubby then. Hopefully he will like it :)
ReplyDelete@phoebeluv, It's great to be back too. :)
I have not tried frozen one. Only those that have been refrigerated. Those that are refrigerated doesnt taste as nice though. Plus you will need to clean it after blanching cos the seller wont let it spill dirt out first before packing. They already shrunk when they are in the fridge.:P And not advise able to under cook them. Hence, definitely not as nice.
For frozen one, I guess it should some what the same for the refrigerated one, except you have to defrost them and I'm not sure how long it takes. Not advisable to soak in water to hasten the defreezing as they are dead. It will turn bad.
I'm sorry but I have to say, don't go thru all the trouble to do it. Come to Singapore or Malaysia and pay for someone do it for you to eat. ;)
Wow..My husb too loves cockles and I am sure he will love this dish. But too bad he is the ONLY one that eat cockles in my family. So I am trying to find the motivation to cook it just for him...
ReplyDeleteShooi, ... maybe as a Xmas gift? :P Hehehe ...
ReplyDelete