Cockles with Lemon Grass & Turmeric Leaf & Stir-fried Belacan Kangkong

Cockle or "kerang"is one of my favorite seafood. It's cheap & you can't get enough of it. The recipe for "kerang rebus" (steamed cockles) is my mum's, as far as I know the only way she cooks cockles. The smell of turmeric leaf & lemon grass in this cockle dish is so ingrained in my brain that I wouldn't enjoy cockles as much as I would any other way.

It's very simple.

1 kg of cockles

(washed & soaked in water)

2 sticks lemon grass

1 turmeric leaf

(both bruised to release the essential oils)

4 shallots

2 cloves garlic

(chopped)

Sauté chopped shallots & garlic

Throw in lemon grass & turmeric leaf

Add water & bring to boil

Season with salt (a little bit more because cockles will release its own juices)

I improvise by adding oyster sauce

Then dump in the cockles & cover to keep steam in the pot for about 7-10 minutes or until the cockles open up.

The rules of preparing/eating shellfish are throw away those that are always open before cooking (during washing) & those that are closed after cooking. You will be unpleasantly surprised if you break this rules.

I digress a bit. Talking about turmeric leaf. Last month I watched a program called "Chasing the Yum" hosted by a Chinese American chef (I think!). Yes correct you guessed it. He wrongly called turmeric leaf as curry leaf. I was stunned! A PRO got it wrong with a basic ingredient in Asian cooking. I think he's oblivious to his mistake. They say "knowledge is power -oblivion is bliss". Enough of that. FYI, I never watch that program anymore!

Next recipe is a favorite among Malaysians (I gotta say it a candidate for 1Malaysia dish). "Kangkong goreng belacan" or stir-fried belacan kangkong (spinach). This recipe works with other vegetables too e.g asparagus, French beans etc.

1 kg kangkong (believe me 1 kg will wilt down to nothing)

(washed, leaves plucked & stem bruissed & keep separate)

2 cm belacan (shrimp paste) toasted on a pan

2 tsp dried shrimp

5 shallots

3 cloves garlic

1-2 red chili or birds eye chili if you like more heat

(all pounded with pestle & mortar)

Sauté pounded ingredients till fragrant

Cook the stem first

After stem had wilted add the leaves

Season to taste

I don't know why but I always improvise by adding oyster sauce...maybe it's something about oyster & aphrodisiac!

Simple dinner combo. Prep time 30 min. Cooking time about 15-20 min.

Bon a petit!