Finally another new food that I hope we can brag about to the world. I’ve been looking over at Google for another name for this shellfish which is known to Davao as “Lubad”. It kind of looks like a long, twisted clam. Yes! Twisted! No anomalies here! I asked my friend Anna, who came from Cebu and she says she has eaten lubad before.

I got to try this when my brother had some cooked along with some bamboo shell clams and other clams from hypermarket. He says, they got it in Davao. The flavor is wonderfully salty and sweet, and is much like a bamboo clam except the insides have a hint of dark orange in some parts.

I hope that someday, we will be put on the foodie map of the world for finding something like this endemic only to our country. 🙂

Cooking Tip: Clams – Basic Boiling

Before I steam any clams or musells for that matter, I allow these babies to vomit out whatever toxic substances or waters they’ve come from. So I always scrub and pre-soak my clams for several minutes up to an hour in a bowl of water with several wash changes depending on the smell of the water that comes out after a couple of minutes of soaking. This helps get rid of grit and sand and whatever it is that seemed to have gotten trapped in their little shells.

Cooking is easy when the clam is very fresh. Usually, I like to just put it in a pot of boiling water with some pieces of ginger and onions. This can even become a soup if you add corn and little vegetables. Just make sure that you’ve soaked the clams enough to ensure that the soup you’ll be getting smells fresh and doesn’t smell bad. The old school trick is, cover it, and after 5-10 minutes, check it to see how many have opened up.

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