Clams in White Wine with Butter and Garlic
I am a shameless seafood glut and one of the things I love to eat and to make is clams. It’s so quick and easy and you can buy fresh clams from the Kolpetty market in Colombo. Sadly many buy the frozen ones which aren’t fresh and aren’t so great.
Anyhow having discovered fresh clams, a favourite recipe my neighbor and I happened upon was a clams in white wine with garlic and butter. It’s so easy it’s wonderfully ridiculous. Only thing is to buy the fresh clams and ensure they don’t die. Just keep them in a container of water to get rid of the sand for a few hours and then in a big pot add in the butter and garlic and let the garlic sauté in the butter. Once that wonderful garlic fragrance embraces your nose, add in the white wine (one glass) and let it simmer and then add in the clams and cook till the clams open up – could be 10 to 15 mins. Once the clams are done, add in some chopped parsley and a dash of lemon and enjoy it with good old kade paan and butter. Discard any clams that haven’t opened – these babies are dead and you don’t want to risk an infection by eating them. The juice in the pot is lovely and seafoody so don’t forget to dip your bread in and enjoy.
The white wine you use is important – try not to use a very dry wine or one that has a very sharp taste – a mellow chardonnay would do, if not the strong wine taste affects the taste of the gravy at the end.
