Vietnamese Grilled Clams with Spring Onion and Peanuts

Vietnamese Grilled Clams with Spring Onion and Peanuts © kvalifood.com

Grilled clams with a butter and spring onion topping (sò điệp nướng mỡ hành style) are popular at Vietnamese coastal street food stalls. Each clam gets a spoonful of garlic-spring onion butter drizzled over while still on the grill. The peanuts go on at the end.

Ingredients

Serves 4

  • 3 kg clams (or mussels)
  • 70 g unsalted butter
  • 100 g spring onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 chilies, finely minced
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp salt, for purging
  • 100 g roasted peanuts, roughly crushed

Directions

Prepare the clams

  1. Soak the clams in a large bowl of cold water with a few sliced chili rounds and 1 tbsp salt for 30 minutes so they release any grit. Drain and rinse.

Make the topping

  1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and fry, stirring, until golden.
  2. Add the spring onion, fish sauce, and lime juice. Stir-fry quickly for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

Grill and serve

  1. Grill the clams directly over high heat (charcoal or a hot grill pan) until they open.
  2. Spoon a little of the garlic-spring onion butter onto each opened clam.
  3. Transfer to a plate. Scatter the roasted peanuts over the top.

Notes

  • Discard any clams that do not open after grilling.
  • The topping can also be made with neutral oil instead of butter.
  • This technique works equally well with mussels.