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Spicy Coconut Milk Clams

These spicy coconut milk clams are packed full of Thai flavor and cook in less than 20 minutes. It’s full of spicy red chiles and sweet coconut milk to create the perfect sweet and spicy seafood combination.

Are you a seafood lover? When I was a kid I was sure I didn’t like any and all seafood. Then slowly I started changing my mind. First it was shrimp, then came the loving of calamari and finally I gave in to most other shellfish. However, clams and mussels were totally off my radar. I was sure no matter what, I wouldn’t like them.

Then one day after a few beers I decided to give clams a try. I plucked the fat little clam out of its shell and dipped it in salty melted butter.

Sweet. Baby. J.

I was taken back at how much the clams tasted nothing like I thought they would in my head. A little chewy (in a good way) with a big bold slap you in your face briny flavor. After that I ordered 2 dozen of my own steamers and ate them with a big smile on my face.

Now I’m always on the search for a new and delicious way to cook my clams. This time I went the spicy coconut milk route. The flavor of the broth reminds me of Tom Kha Gai soup but packed with clams and a little hit of spicy red chile flavor. It was hard for me to not just slurp up all that broth and not share one single bite with the hubs.

BUT because I’m not a monster I shared.

{Looking for more clam recipes? Try my beer steamed clams, New England clam chowder or my drunken clams and sausage.}

The good thing about this recipe is that it’s made in NO time! But the biggest issue about cooking in my kitchen is the lack of space and quality appliances. We bought our home fresh off a remodel but of course all the appliances they put in the house were the lowest grade possible. Combine that with the fact that my kitchen is about the size of a lentil and you have sadness in kitchen form. When I say my appliances are bad I’m not joking. The handle to both my microwave AND oven have fallen off.

Fallen. Off.

If you asked my husband how many times I talk about my dream kitchen, he would probably respond “About a million. She never stops talking about it!” Sadly he is not wrong. I’m always pulling up ideas on the computer and showing up all my fancy vision boards and appliances I want. He usually responds with something like “you realize those appliances would not fit in our kitchen…right?”

Well now he is going to be psyched because Frigidaire just came out with a line of professional-grade appliances that are made to fit in a normal sized kitchen. Hooooooray! That means now he can listen to me talk about our trips to Lowe’s and what we will buy.

Pictured: Frigidaire Professional French door refrigerator and Frigidaire Professional 5 burner gas stove.

So what does my dream kitchen look like?

Not too complicated, right?

Just imagine I had all these appliances in my house while I made this. I would rock these clams on my 30 inch sturdy range that not only offered up 18,000 BTU’s of powerful cooking but it’s smudge free too. Which honestly is a huge plus to me. And because I’m a sucker and usually buy WAY too many clams I could keep them ice cold in my big French door refrigerator….swooooooon!

Now I realize it’s too much to just go in and redo a whole kitchen in one weekend. But you know what you can do in just one weekend? Give yourself quality and professional-grade appliances! And possibly throw in a couple of other easy DIY updates.

So you know what that means? That means this weekend there are no excuses to not give your kitchen the facelift it needs!

Spicy Coconut Milk Clams

These spicy coconut milk clams are packed full of Thai flavor and cook in less than 20 minutes. It's full of spicy red chiles and sweet coconut milk to create the perfect sweet and spicy seafood combination.

Yield: 2 dozen clams

Prep Time: 10 minutesplus clam cleaning time

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 dozen little neck clams, cleaned
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger
  • 2 teaspoons red chile paste
  • 2 teaspoons gochujang paste
  • 2 teaspoons lemongrass paste
  • 8 ounces clam juice
  • 14 ounces coconut milk
  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
  • Lime wedges for topping, optional

Directions:

Wash your clams and leave them clean in a sink full of water. My post on beer steamed clams gives you a breakdown on how to clean clams if you have never done it before.

In a large skillet set over medium high heat, add butter.

Once melted, add garlic, ginger, red chile paste, gochujang and lemongrass. Sauté for 1 minutes until fragrant.

Pour in clam juice, coconut milk and lime juice. Stir to combine.

Add in clams, cover and bring to a slight boil. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until all the clam shells have popped open. If after 10 minutes you notice one has not opened discard. Never eat clams that have not opened after cooking.

Serve with a sprinkle of cilantro and an extra squeeze of lime if desired.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Kitchen PLAY in partnership with Frigidaire and Lowe’s. All thoughts and comments are 100% my own.