This is a quick and easy hen xuc banh trang recipe. Tasty street food, Vietnamese clams recipe. Originated from mid region of Vietnam, Hue, it is supposed to be super spicy and flavorful dish. However, you can fix your spice level if you can’t eat too spicy.
Vietnam Clams and Snails Dishes
Vietnamese love to eat clams and snail dishes. It is one of Vietnamese’s cuisine delicacy since the country is abundant in seafood.
Many types of sea snails and river snails are fixed up in various ways to enjoy. The crispy chewy textures of these clams and snails are craved by locals. Steamed, stir-fried, and grilled are just the tip of the iceberg when mention the various ways Vietnamese people cook their clams and snails.
What Clams To Use
For “Hến xúc bánh tráng”, the clams used are small black clams. They look like small pebbles and the meat are so tiny. But they are super cheap, and many enjoys spending their time picking them one by one to gather up enough meat with a toothpick to engulf them for a richer clam experience.
Lucky for us in the states, we can now find these clams already processed and precooked. Only the clam meat are left. But we still need to wash these clams diligently to remove all the sand that are still inside them. It is still a little bit of work, but still a lot more convenient when considered the task of removing the shells from these little clams.
If you can’t find these clams, you can use whatever clams you want. Just make sure to rinse them clean of sand and diced them up small. This Hến xúc bánh tráng dish should be a fluffy clam dish, full of flavor and texture.
Other Vietnamese Clam Dishes
While there are many dozens more of Vietnamese clams recipe. “Hến”, these cheap pebble like baby clams, are good in a few different ways.
#1 Hến xúc bánh tráng / Bánh đa : eaten with rice crackers. This is more of a snack version.
#2 Cơm hến: eaten with white rice and other condiments and toppings. Main dish.
#3 Bún hến: eaten with rice noodles and other condiments and toppings. Main dish.
Of course there might be other dishes out there that use these baby clams also. Vietnamese cuisine always tries to come up with new dishes that make good use of wasted parts to enjoy.
Quick Fix Clam Dish
This stir fry Vietnamese baby clams with rice cracker dish is one of the few simple and tasty recipe that you can fix up in about 30-40 min. The longest part is actually washing the clams to rinse out any sand left over.
This mien trung food is loved and enjoyed by everyone in Vietnam. These clams are super small, and full of sand. Rinse them out many times and squeeze them dry just to get the meat texture. There are still some clam flavor, but not as sweet and scrumptious as other bigger clams. Hence this recipe aims at enhancing the clams flavor and aroma with lemongrass, fish sauce, coriander leaves and fried shallots.
When eaten with the black sesame rice crackers, it is full of flavors and texture. A perfect snack to fix up and enjoy with a beer!
ChefQsTravelRecipe
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Hến Xúc Bánh Tráng/Đa
Ingredients
- 2 lb pre cooked baby clams meat (Thịt Hến)
- 4 each large shallots sliced thin
- 1 bunch Vietnamese coriander leaves washed and coarse chopped
- 1 whole clove garlic minced
- 2 each lemongrass finely minced
- 1 each white onion diced
- 1 cup canola/vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp chicken granulated seasoning (or 1 tspn msg)
- black peppers to taste
- red chili to taste
- chili oil to taste
- rice crackers
Instructions
- Using the cooked frozen baby clams meat (Hến). Rinse and wash thoroughly to remove as much sand as possible. Wash and scrub like rice for 5-6 rinses.
- Squeeze dry by putting it into clean cloth/towel and pressing out any remaining water/juice.
- Clams has to be really dry and fluffy. Put in strainer aside until ready to use.
- In a deep pan, fried your shallots with oil.fry on medium heat until slightly golden and strain over to spread evenly on paper towels.let cool and dry.
- Using the shallot infused oil, add in your minced garlic, minced lemongrass, and diced onions.saute until a onions caramelized a bit, then add in your clam meat.
- add in sugar, fish sauce, granulated chicken seasoning, chili, and chili oilstir fry and mix for 5 min.
- serve by putting clams on plate, sprinkle fried shallots, coriander leaves, black pepper, and more chili if you want more spicy. enjoy with rice crackers on side.
Video
Notes
ChefQ
