Spaghetti with baby clams

I have to admit that this is my first time cooking with baby clams. Baby clams are used in many Vietnamese seafood dishes, but I’ve never had a chance to try a Vietnamese dish with them. So, I only knew the name, and that’s all. 

Noticing that the clams were sold so freshly at the supermarket at the reasonable price, I bought some home and made into this pasta. I had been putting this pasta recipe in my list for quite some time, and now I could actually cook it to try the taste. 

It took me quite a long time to scrub and rinse the clams thoroughly since I didn’t want to spoil the taste of the dish. When cooking the clams, the shells didn’ t wide open as with large clams or mussels. Cooking time was nearly over and I started to wonder why mine took more time and they were still not open. I took out one and tried to open with the tips of a pair of chopsticks, and I could open the two half-shelves easily. Oh.. so here they were, like that. They were all cooked through. These clams were different from the other kinds. When I closed the two half-shelves, they returned like unopened again. Very interesting to me. 

So now I knew a new way of cooking pasta, and gained my first experience with baby clams. I knew another new taste in a very delicious dish.  

Ingredients (serves 4)

- 1kg baby clams

- 375g spaghetti

- 125ml extra virgin olive oil

- 40g butter

- 1 small onion, finely chopped

- 5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

- 125ml dry white wine

- 1 small red chili, seeded and chopped

- fresh flat-leaf parsley, as needed, chopped

- salt, pepper, to season

Cooking:

- Soak and rinse the clams well, scrub the shells until the soaking water is clear. 

- Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and keep warm. 

- Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and half of the garlic, cook for about 10 minutes or until they turn lightly golden. Stir in the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add the clams, chili and the remaining garlic, cover and cook for 8 minutes, shaking regularly until the clam shells open. Discard the unopened ones. 

- Stir in the chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and toss in the pasta.