I love a good dip or charcuterie board, but if you want to spice up your appetizer game or win a “most unique appetizer” competition, here is a wonderful dish from Huế.
My dad’s side of the family hails from Huế – the former imperial capital of Việt Nam. This region has some of the roughest weather conditions in the country. There is rarely a storm that does not hit this region.
The hardworking people of miền Trung (the central region) are incredible at making the most out of limited resources, and I think that shows in this recipe. Miniscule clams (which we luckily can now buy already de-shelled) are sautéed with lemongrass, shallot, ginger, chili, onion, cilantro, and rau răm (Vietnamese coriander).
This dish overflows with flavors- and that’s not an exaggeration. All the aromatics and spices work together beautifully.
Topped with crunchy roasted peanuts and served with bánh tráng (also called bánh đa) mè đen – giant black sesame rice crackers that you can make in the microwave, it is truly one of my favorite shareables.
Hến xúc bánh tráng • Sautéed clams with rice cracker
Course: Appetizers, MainCuisine: VietnameseDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes20
minutes50
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
400 g 400 hến (frozen cooked baby/mini clam meat) – see notes
30 g 30 lemongrass
15 g 15 ginger
25 g 25 shallot
15 g 15 garlic
50 g 50 white onion
20 g 20 rau răm (Vietnamese coriander) leaves
5 g 5 cilantro
2 tbsp 2 vegetable oil
2 2 bird’s eye chili
1 tsp 1 MSG (optional)
1 tsp 1 bouillon powder
2 tsp 2 fish sauce
1/2 tsp 1/2 ground black pepper
1/2 tsp 1/2 sugar
1 tsp 1 red pepper powder or flakes (we used gochugaru)
50 g 50 roasted peanuts
3 3 bánh tráng mè đen (black sesame rice paper crackers)
Directions
- Remove the tough outer layers of lemongrass and mince.
- Peel and thinly slice ginger into 3-4cm long matchsticks.
- Thinly slice shallot.
- Mince garlic.
- Thinly slice white onion.
- Roughly chop Vietnamese coriander & cilantro leaves, saving a few whole leaves for garnish.
- Roughly crush peanuts in a mortar and pestle (or with the end of a rolling pin).
- Add clams to a bowl a cover with room temperature water. Mix around, then scoop the clams out with your hand or a slotted spoon into a strainer- leaving any sand/debris behind.
- Make your bánh tráng/rice crackers: Microwave 1.5-2 minutes, flipping every 30 seconds until it has fully expanded all over. Set aside to serve.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium high.
- Add in garlic and shallots, sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add in ginger and lemongrass, sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add in clams, followed by: MSG, bouillon powder, fish sauce, black pepper, sugar, and red pepper powder. Sauté for 5 minutes on medium, then another 5 minutes on medium-low.
- Add in herbs and white onion. Stir to combine and remove from heat.
- Add to plate, sprinkle with crushed peanuts, garnish with the remaining Vietnamese coriander/cilantro leaves.
- Serve immediately with bánh tráng/rice crackers.
Notes
- This is what the frozen hến/clams look like:
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