Friday, May 16, 2008

My Kam Heong LaLa................



It was during my visit to the wet market few days ago, I saw this fresh looking shellfish which I call lala or is it kapar or any other name, please correct me. It was quite cheap...just rm 4 for the above amount.

So I decided to cook it the 'kam heong' way......wonder how the kam heong name comes about....it sounds so Cantonese because "heong" in Cantonese dialect means 'smells nice'....I do not know about the word "kam"........would love some info from my readers.


Chopped dried prawns................


The ingredients for 'kam heong' looks so Malaysian.....you must have dried prawns, chillis, curry leaves, curry powder besides the usual shallots and garlic to make this dish. Anthing like chicken meat, crabs, prawns, cuttlefish can be cooked "kam heong" if you have the above ingredients. Here goes my Kam Heong La La...


Chillis....shallots....garlic and ginger.....


Ingredients:

2 tbsp of dried prawns - soaked and chopped
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 shallot - peeled and chopped
2 slices of ginger - minced
3 sprigs curry leaves - removed stems and washed
1 red chilli - chopped or 3 chilli padi (optional)
1 tsp fish curry powder mixed with a tbsp of water
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
100 ml water
1 kg lala - scrub clean and soak in a bowl of salt water.


Curry leaves....................


La la......scrub clean and drained..........


Method:

Heat up oil in pan....saute dried prawns, garlic and shallots and ginger til fragrant....add more oil if mixture is a bit dry. Add in curry leaves, curry powder, chillis and fry til aromatic. Drained the lala dry and add in to fry for a minute...add in some salt to taste and water. Covered and cooked for a further 2 minutes til all the lala open its shells.......then it is ready to be served.
Note: Discard those lala that do not open..........

18 comments:

Kok said...

sweetjasmine,
I never taste lala before leh. Do they taste the same like mussels?

Wah, you're a good cook lah!:D

Beachlover said...

oh!! I love kam heong spices especially cooking with crab ,lala and shrimp.My mom introduced me to kam heong when I was back in KL last month and now your post make me miss my mom cooking.My mom give me her recipe and it's almost same as your.slurp!!

Sweet Jasmine said...

Kok - Its quite surprising you have not eaten this lala before...maybe you cannot get it in Miri..? I have been eating this since I was very young....we used to get big big ones here during my younger days....I remember digging it out from the sands in a beach in Segari, Perak with my bare hands during my teaching days....
You can only find it if it is in season. The flesh are so much nicer and sweeter than mussels....
Cooking it the kam hoeng way is the best to bring out the flavor....
Me a good cook..? Not as good as youlah..ha..ha.

eastcoastlife said...

I love lala! I first tasted it in Malaysia. RM4 is too cheap! I'm going to Penang in July, can I taste your cooking? hehe.....

古墓街第7号當鋪 said...

Omgz!!! So many varieties of Lala.!
Lolx..such a long time didn't try " kam heong " la la ><

Sweet Jasmine said...

beachlover - cook it with crabs, cuttlefish and chicken when you cannot get lala at yr place...it is just as good.......

Sweet Jasmine said...

eastcoastlife - wow...singapore island also cannot get lala..? Then come to Penang.....will be my pleasure to cook for you.."grin".

Sweet Jasmine said...

jeromefo - hi,Jerome..this variety is the best among other lalas... Sure cannot get this in UK..eh..?

ICook4Fun said...

I always want to learn how to make 'Kam Heong' style and now you post the recipe. Thank you :)

Anonymous said...

So long didn't eat LaLa already. Saw the pix here, feel want to eat already!

Sweet Jasmine said...

i cook4fun - kam heong sauce can be made in big batches for cooking other dishes..like chicken meat and other seafood...add more curry powder and chilli padi if you like it hot.....ginger can be omitted if you do not like the smell..hope you can cook up a storm with this...

Sweet Jasmine said...

dora - hi,.dora...thks for the visit...hope you can get to eat this lala...or you have only to drool over it..ha..ha..

Rei said...

I love lala but usually I cooked it with chilli bean paste. I haven't tried this version before and would love to try it out. Thanks for sharing! I will try to pry open them when I wash them. If they are alive, they won't open. So usually, all the 'dead' lala were discarded before they make their way to the wok. :D

Sweet Jasmine said...

rei - Hi, Rei...do try out this kam heong lala....you will sure have more than one bowl of rice with this appetising dish....
Talking about chilli bean paste...I have one of this cooked with my flower crabs coming up in my next posting...Happy Cooking.

古墓街第7号當鋪 said...

Hrm...maybe got. I haven't really go discover it ><
If got, also very expensive one.

Rei said...

HI Jasmine, I tried this dish over the weekend and it was great! Thanks for sharing. May I have the permission to put up the recipe on my blog for future reference? Appreciate it. :)

Sweet Jasmine said...

Hi, Rei...glad to know you finally cook this wonderful shellfish and it turns out well too. Of course you can put out in yr blog. Good food are meant to be share out. Cheers.

p.s. post a pic of yr cooking too so I can drool over it..

Rei said...

Hi Jasmine, Thanks! I have put it up. Hop over to have a look. :D
http://allthatmatters2rei.blogspot.com/2008/06/kam-heong-lala_24.html