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Vongole Bianco

Yields2 ServingsPrep Time7 hrsCook Time25 minsTotal Time7 hrs 25 mins

Asari clam is in season from April to Jun. By using the real dashi of it, the sauce is delicious. To keep the Asari clam soft, it's important to remove them during cooking.

vongole

 160 g spaghetti (1.4mm)I recommend to use the thin pasta because it can catch the light sauce of Asari clam well.
 3000 g water
 36 g salt
 3 tbsp olive oil
 10 g garlic
 1 red pepper
 300 g Asari clamAt this time, there are 18 Asari clam.
 30 g water
 1 tbsp olive oil
 Coarsely chopped Italian parsley
 5 g unsalted butter
For Asari clam preparation
 600 g waterYou don't need cold water, because the clam is active when the water is about 20 degrees.
 18 g salt
Preparation of Asari clam
1

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Put the Asari clam to a strainer, and wash them with running water. Use 3% salt of water, and make a salt water (same as seawater). Make sure that the salt has melt well. Use a strainer, and put the salt water and the Asari clam.

2

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Half of shell is soaked in salt water. It prevent the clam drowning.

3

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It is said that the temperature at which the Asari clam is most active is 20 degrees. When you put it in the refrigerator, it's too cold for Asari clam, and they don't spew sand. However, the temperature is high in summer, keep it in a cool place or put it in your refrigerator from time to time to adjust the water temperature to 20 degrees.

4

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To reproduce the condition in the sand, cover it with aluminum foil (which is made several holes) or newspaper to darken it. Then let them spew out sand for 6 hours. At the same time as blocking the light, the water spewed out from the water pipe may burst out, preventing the surroundings from getting dirty.

5

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While scrubbing the Asari clam together, and clean them up with running water. Let them spew out salt for 1 hours.

6

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If you find foul smell and the dying Asari clam which stay out, remove them. You can check whether they live like the picture. Hold the Asari clam with your hands, and knock against each other. If you can hear high sound, they are alive.

7

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If you don't use the Asari clam soon, cover them with wet paper towels, and put them in a bowl. Put them in the vegetable compartment of a refrigerator with a plastic wrap (which is made several holes). Be careful to use them in two days from you bought.

Preparation of ingredients
8

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Cut the garlic in half, and remove the skin of it. Remove the skin of the garlic, and get rid of the sprouts. Cut it into 5mm slices.

9

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Cut the chili pepper in half diagonally, and remove the seeds.

Make a garlic sauce
10

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Put the olive oil and garlic in a pan. Heat up on high heat. When the bubbles come out from the garlic, reduce the heat to low, and fry the garlic until light brown.

11

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Turn off the heat, and let the oil cool down. Then add the chili pepper and chopped parsley (parsley is optional. I like parsley, so I added it).

12

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Add Asari clam.

13

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Add water.

14

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Turn on the heat, and cook it on high heat with a lid. If you can hear the cracking sound, reduce the heat to low, and let it cook.

15

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Once you can't hear any sound, open the lid, and make sure that the Asari clam open the shells. Then turn off the heat. If you have the Asari clam which don't open, continue to cook with a lid for 2-3 minutes.

16

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Remove the Asari clam, and cover them with a plastic wrap. it is easy to make a sauce. Also, it prevents them from overcooking.

17

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Check the saltness of the water. If it is too salty, add some water to adjust the saltiness. Remember to simmer the spaghetti in the sauce for more time. (At this time, I added one table spoon of water.)

18

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Without using the heat, add olive oil to the sauce, and mix them well. Make a tasty sauce by emulsifying water and oil.

19

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Make sure that the sauce is sticky like the picture.

20

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Start to boil the spaghetti 40 seconds shorter than a package instruction. During it, put the Asari clam on the plate on a pasta pot like this picture. It can warm them up. If you have added extra water before this step to dilute salt, remove the spaghetti for 1 minutes to simmer it in the sauce. By doing so, let the spaghetti absorb the water which includes Asari clam soup.

21

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Add the spaghetti to the sauce, and mix it. Simmer it on medium heat for 1 Minutes (If you add extra water before step, simmer the spaghetti for about 1.5 minutes). When the spaghetti has a little softer texture than al dente, drain it.

22

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Add the butter, and mix them lightly. Butter can give the rich flavor to the sauce, and it is good combination with Asari clam.

23

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Serve the pasta on a plate, then put the Asari clam on it. Sprinkle the chopped parsley for a finishing touch.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 2

Servings 0