“Healthy seafood soup dish, loved its subtle and soothing flavour”
Healthy seafood & melon soup which was done with steaming method. Not the usual boiling stuff direct from the stove though, soup made from steaming method yields very smooth mouthfeel. It gives a very soothing effect to the throat and even the entire body. For whom does not really like clams, would love this. Subtly flavoured soup was without a trace of ‘fishy taste’ which usually found in the clams. Not mine! Winter melon in the soup was very soft, too.
This simple yet palatable clear soup dish with seafood and melon should be cooked and consumed more often, if you are such a health freak like me (smile). Well, just kidding.. but it’s true that this dish is a must-try homecooked soup dish, drink it to cool and sooth the body and clear body system, or when feel like having some milder flavour dishes for the evening.
My Recipe:
Ingredients
300 grams of winter melon, skinned, seeded and cut into chunk cubes
300 grams of clams, steeped in salted water for few hours
1 teaspoon of grounded white pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of sugar
1 large bowl of water
1 large pot of water (for blanching clams)
1 thick slice of ginger
1 tablespoon of Hua Diao rice wine (花雕酒)
1 teaspoon of salt
Garnish (Optional):
Spring onion, thinly shredded
Red chilli, thinly shredded
Method
1) Boil a large pot of water over high heat, add clams, salt, ginger and Hua Diao rice wine. Cook clams till shells slightly open. Heat off, drain and transfer clams into a large deep bowl. Fill water into large bowl till 80% full.
2) Then, place the bowl on wire rack in a large wok filled with simmering water, cover wok with lid and steam clams on high heat, for 20 minutes. When done, remove lid. Add in winter melon, and sprinkle sugar, salt and pepper. Cover with lid again to steam for another 20 minutes. Heat off. Garnish to make the dish colourful, if you wished. Serve hot.
A portion of such healthy soup dish counts about 100kcal. It’s definitely low fat!
Tips: Live clams from wet markets have to be steeped in lightly salted water for at least 2 hours, in order for the clams to spew out dirt and mud. Otherwise, an hour or less, will do.
Hello Patricia…
U mentioned under ‘Tips’ for buying clams-> “Tips: Fresh clams from wet markets have to be steeped in lightly salted water for at least 5 hours, in order for the clams to spew out dirt and mud.”
How about those sold in supermarket,eg:NTUC Or Shop & Save.. the prepacked ones..do i also have to steeped in salt water for that many hours?
Thank you :)
Hi Anne,
Hmm… Actually those fresh ones from wet market are alive, and really have to do the steeping.. But as for pre-packed ones from supermarket, I think it is the same, just that they are all dead ones.. So, I recommend to just steep it till you find it clean.
Ok Patrica,
Noted with thanks :) But how do you know that its clean enough and ready for cooking?
Thank you once again.
Hmm.. basically just steep and wash thoroughly.. If those which are not clean or still contain dirt, they would not open shell even cooked. So, just cook them accordingly and discard those unopened shells, the rest should be clean and safe to eat after cooked. :)
Ok..noted with thanks :)
Will definitely give this dish a try and let you know the outcome :p
Thank You, Patrica
Simply just had to express I’m just glad I stumbled on the webpage!.
I really enjoy looking att on this site, it has superb blog posts.