STRANGE GRUB - Giant Penis Clam (aka Geoduck)

Now that LAM reads my blog regularly, I debated for 2.5 seconds whether to use the word PENIS, but I figure since I'm talking about FOOD and not my sex life, she'll get over it.

Ain't that right, Mama? :P

Moving right along...

So the name geoduck is derived from a Pacific Northwestern Native American word and is pronounced GOOEYduck or GWEEduck - essentially nothing like it's spelled. And one can only assume that the guy in charge of that transliteration had an iffy grasp on English phonemes.

If we just called it Giant Penis Clam, we wouldn't have that whole pronunciation issue and people wouldn't ever have to wrack their brains trying to remember what it's called, but I guess that might cause marketing issues and people would want to eat them less than they already do.

Unless of course we're talking about the exports to China (most of our geoduck crop is exported to China, BTW), where they'd probably sell doubly well if they were called Giant Penis Clams because superstitious Asian people in Asia seem to have an affinity for eating anything that remotely suggests that its consumption would result in penis or potency enhancement. (I never said I wasn't going to talk about other peoples' sex lives...)

And if you think I'm making a big penis-pumped phallic to-do about this clam, when you see the pics, you'll know why it's near impossible not to.

So the flesh of geoduck, if you've never had it, tastes like a cross between your average fan-shape shelled clam - say, a Littleneck - and the sweetest scallop you've ever tasted, with texture ranging from a cross between firm jello and oyster on the shell end becoming progressively firmer toward the *ahem* protruding end, otherwise known as its siphon or neck, to where it's downright crunchy at the tip. (The Man says that was so wrong, but WHAT - IT'S TRUE.)

The one I photographed here has a rather short neck and I think he had a pretty bad attitude about it as a result, making it extra challenging to pry him from his shell.

Before you get started have a pot of hot tap water or boiled water ready for purposes you'll see in a bit. Then cut through the tough ligament thingies attaching the clam to the shell on both sides.

Then pry the shells apart, and !Voila! Dumbo.

At this point, give the geoduck a good and thorough rinse in cold water. If it smells like anything but fresh ocean water, it's probably not so fresh, and you might not make yourself sick, but you'll most likely turn your palate away from geoduck for a very, VERY long time if you eat it.

If it smells murky or rotten at all, you should get your not small amount of money back. (This stuff ain't cheap.)

When you pull the body of the clam away from the shell, you're going to find this thing that looks like bwalls, and well, it is a gonad, so it's basically bwalls.

People tend to discard this part, but it tastes sweetly of the ocean and makes a wonderful stock for seafood based soups and stews.

By the way, this tubey thing isn't a clam penis, nor is it some kind of parasite. It's something called a crystalline style and is part of their digestive system. Tastes like a mildly salty chap chae noodle, actually. :P

Ok. Once the gonad is removed, you have the mantle (the fleshy part that was covered by the shell) and the siphon (the fleshy part outside the shell), and it is all covered by an outer rubbery *sheath* called a periostracum. To remove that sheath, dunk the clam in that hot water for 15 to 20 seconds. Doing this will not only facilitate the removal, but it'll firm up the flesh and make it easier to slice. 

Start from any edge and rub the periostracum away. Once you've got about an inch pulled away with which to pull, slowly and gently pull on the periostracum toward the end of the neck. It should pull away with ease. You may have to do this a few times to get all of the stuff off the clam.

Pile o' RubberIMeanPeriostracum

In the front, the siphon, in the back the mantle, both completely edible.

I like to separate them into a mantle piece and siphon piece, then cut the siphon piece in half so I can wash away any sand or dirt that's accumulated there.

On the day I took these pics, we ate the entire clam as sashimi, so I cut them thusly. (That's an Alton-ism.)

mantle pieces

siphon pieces

And served them with choh gochoojahng (Korean style), wasabi and shoyu (Japanese style), and paper thin slices of lemon.

This is geoduck sushi from another day from Nozomi in Carlsbad. Mirugai (MEErooguy) is the Japanese word for geoduck, so you'll likely find it presented on the menu as such. And they for the most part only serve you siphon pieces.

But the stuff also makes delicious soups and ceviche among other things as well.

The fact that this is a Strange Grub post does however indicate my awareness that geoduck is not for everyone. You have to have an open mind and adventurous palate to allow yourself to get past the obscene appearance and uncommon texture. But if you, like I, are a sucker for superfresh raw things that smell and taste of the ocean, you may want to give The Giant Penis Clam a blow go.

Mama, you may pick your jaw up off the floor now. <Turns off phone.> :P

shinae

On Gardening and Growing Big Little Things...

Although I am a much more present and patient mother for Isabella than I was over a decade ago for Joe and Mads when they were babies, I will fully admit that I am still not a mother who was made to mother babies.

I know what some people are going to say - that no one is ever really prepared for motherhood, that mostly all of us do the best we can, and all that kind of stuff we say with the best of intentions to comfort and assuage those others of us who just aren't quite as gifted or inclined toward caring for the littlest ones.

fresh thyme

But I am TOTALLY ok with the fact that that I am much more naturally amenable, capable, and competent a mother for slightly older children.

That's not to say that I am not very much enjoying and learning to appreciate what it is to be a new mother again at 40, but learning is the key word here. I have talent for some things, and that talent has certainly bumped the learning curve on the things at which I'm gifted, but this mothering babies thing - well, I am always trying and learning. Specially the whole how to stay at home full time while mothering a little baby. That staying successfully, happily and fulfilled-ly at home full time with a baby thing - that is taking a lot of trying and learning.

And one of the things it's teaching me this time around, because I'm so much more ready to learn it, is a sense of wonderment and accomplishment from the "little" things (that we know are much bigger but are probably so named because we can miss them in the blink of an eye if we're not paying attention...).

as yet unidentified white bulb flower

Watching Izzy conquer her baby milestones, being here to witness the glee and pride in her big two-toofed, squirrel-cheeked, ear-to-ear grin, and realizing how blessed I am to have the chance to do it better this time than I did the last - that's a big little thing for me.

Being able to remind myself in a moment of utterly sleep-deprived and exhausted frustration when I think she's being a little nutjob baby how fortunate we are that she is healthy enough to be a nutjob baby - another big little thing.

And finding other ways, while I am however temporarily away from the paid in money work force, to derive a sense of fulfillment, achievement, evolution, purpose and productivity, to feed the pieces of me that don't answer when called "Mom," "Mommy," "Mother," or "Mama" - a truly big, essential, and sanity-saving little thing.

But the mind can only handle so much of the active and sometimes taxing - albeit rewarding- cerebral engagement it takes to write and photograph a recipe worth cooking or a blog post worth reading. And that whole domestic maintenance thing, while necessary, gets old from time to time...

Enter gardening.

resuscitated blueberry bush

A thing I never imagined in my much more impatient younger life that I would ever care to explore.

And yet it seems such a natural progression in my life at this juncture when I've finally learned to slow down, smell the roses, and be ok with doing my best and letting the rest unfold, not trying to control the uncontrollable, predict the unpredictable, or know the unknowable.

Better understanding both my abilities and limitations than I would have ten years ago, I've started out small. Just a few plants in the ground and a few more in pots.

the Christmas cactus that keeps on giving

And when I see new leaves sprouting on a blueberry bush I thought I'd killed, new little nodes on my Christmas cactus, a whole blanket of tiny thyme leaves coming in where I'd cut it back completely, new spearmint leaves growing like weeds just days after I've picked and eaten all the existing ones, and two new blossoms opening on some white bulb flower I transplanted from the side yard to the front, a big, huge, ear-to-ear, two-toofed, squirrel-cheeked grin wells up in the heart of my once black thumb.

That I get to share these big little milestones with y'all makes it all the sweeter.

Next up, it's four little garden beds for veg.

We're growing more big little things, a little at a time. :)

shinae

Choh Gochoojahng (aka Cho Gochujang)

Before I get into choh gochoojahng, I just want to say it never ceases to surprise me how many hits I get from people looking for "how to cook sand fleas."

And if cooking sand fleas isn't exactly something I want to be known for, I am super tickled to know how many accidental readers out there share my culinary curiosity and sense of adventure.

That said, Little Asian Mama and Medium Asian Papa are visiting this weekend, and they always come bearing something delicious to eat. Tonight, it's hweh (aka hwae), or Korean style sashimi - specifically mirugai (geoduck) and halibut (gwahng uh in Korean) tonight.

If the Japanese enjoy their sashimi with shoyu and or wasabi, Koreans dip our fish in something called choh gochoojahng. Literally vinegar (choh) red chili pepper paste (gochoojahng), this dipping sauce is hot, sweet, tangy and savory from the gochoojahng, sugar, vinegar and garlic, respectively.

This is also the sauce you get when you order hweh dup bahp (Korean style chirashizushi), and it's delicious for dipping raw cucumber, lettuce leaves, and mild chili peppers as well.

CHOH GOCHOOJAHNG (aka cho gochujang) 

- 1/4 cup gochoojahng

- 2 Tablespoons water

- 1 to 1.5 Tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like your food

- 1.5  to 2 Tablespoons white vinegar

- 1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce

- 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic (1 small clove)

Just put all the ingredients in a bowl and slowly stir or whisk to thoroughly mix and incorporate all the ingredients.

You want to go slow because the gochoojahng is really pasty at first and if you try to stir or whisk too quickly, you'll end up sloshing and spilling all the other liquid before the gochoojahng starts to thin out.

Now off to make a little ssahmjahng (seasoned fermented soybean paste) and prep all the greens for the rest of dinner. Another distinguishing feature of Korean hweh is that we often wrap our fish with things like lettuce, perilla and other tender leafy greens, a thin slice of garlic, and a dab of the sauce.

Healthful and so delicious. Next time you've got raw fish on the brain, you might want to go Korean style. :)

shinae

Hotter Than It Looks Thai Inspired Curry Base

Last night, we had shrimp, shrooms, and snow peas with which to make dinner, and The Man said he wanted something spicy, to which I mused aloud how I've noticed that people who tend to say, "Oh, that's spicy!" in response to eating something hot usually don't have a high tolerance for capsaicin heat.

To which The Man responded, "OK. Make something HOT."

So I did. :P

HOTTER THAN IT LOOKS THAI INSPIRED CURRY BASE

Serves 4 with about 1 pound of protein and 1 pound of veg added, served with steamed rice

*Caveat: For most people, this recipe will be unbearably HOT. You can easily turn down the heat by reducing the chilies. If you've a mild palate, start out with one fresh chili - maybe even a milder one like jalapeno - seeded and deveined and 1 teaspoon crushed chili flakes

I was originally going to write this up as a complete recipe including the proteins and veg (which I do outline for you further down this post), but I realized this morning that this makes a good and adaptable base to which you can add whatever proteins and veg you fancy.

Add 4 or 5 cups of unsalted chicken, seafood or veg stock, increase the salt and lime to taste, and you'll have a delicious soup!

- 1/4 yellow onion, finely minced
- 1/4 cup very finely chopped cilantro and/or basil (This is a great use for all those stems!)
- 2 Tablespoons finely minced ginger
- 2 Tablespoons finely minced garlic
- 3 serrano chilies, finely minced (seeds, veins and all) Thai bird chilies would be great, of course, but I had serranos. Chiles de arbol would also work well here.
- 1 Tablespoon crushed red chili flakes (Crushed red chili flakes are a way to add a fairly clean and unadulterated heat to your dishes without adding too much competing or distinct chili flavor.)
- the zest of 1 lime (or 3 kaffir lime leaves - I just used the lime zest because I didn't have the leaves handy. Lemon balm is also a great sub for kaffir lime leaves. Lemongrass would also add a similarly floral citrus element.)
- 2 Tablespoons oil
- 1 to 2 teaspoons curry powder, depending on how strong a curry flavor you prefer
- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 can of coconut milk (they're usually somewhere between 13 and 15 ounces)

1) In a preheated medium high pan, saute the aromatics - onion, garlic, ginger, chilies, chili flakes, and lime zest - in the 2 Tablespoons of oil until the onions are translucent. Add the curry powder, stir to incorporate, and let the curry bloom for a minute or so.

2) Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir to incorporate thoroughly, turn the heat up to high, and bring the curry to an active boil for a minute.

3) Add in your protein and veg and bring the curry back up to a boil for a minute or so, turn the heat down to medium high, and let it simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, or until your protein is cooked through. Bite sized pieces of seafood will take no time at all (3 to 5 minutes), white meat chicken a little bit longer (5 to 7 minutes), and dark meat yet longer (7 to 10 minutes).

4) Give it a stir, adjust the seasoning if needed - a little more salt or fish sauce if you want it saltier, a little more lime juice if you like extra tang, maybe a pinch more of sugar to round out all the flavors - simmer another minute or two, and that's it! Serve with steamed rice.

For last night's curry, I added:

- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used 31/40 size), lightly sauteed
- 1/2 pound button or crimini mushrooms, quartered and sauteed
- 1/2 pound snow peas, stems removed and lightly blanched and shocked if you have the time. If you don't, it's not a huge deal, but blanching and shocking does help them retain color and crunch
- 1/2 red bell pepper cut into 1/4-inch strips, sauteed
- a .8 oz can (the short one) of bamboo shoots, drained

But you can of course use whatever veg you like and have handy, following the general measurement guidelines of 1 pound of protein and 1 pound of veg for 4 servings.

You don't have to saute/blanch the protein and veg as outlined above, but I like how it helps them retain their color and texture when they simmer in the curry.

Enjoy! :)

shinae

Complete album HERE.

THANK YOU

Truth is, I never envisioned myself a Stay-at-Home mom.

And contrary to how many of my SAHM sistren on the interwebs make it look, it is often a difficult and lonely kind of job, despite the many intrinsic rewards.

Truth also is that I might not be one today, or at least I'd be much more reluctantly so, were it not for the camaraderie, support, encouragement, friendship, conversation, and creative outlet I have here, because of you.

And that makes doing what I do all the more fulfilling, rewarding, and truthfully, EASIER.

So THANK YOU is all. :)

shinae

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY :)

We need not vilify, deify, idealize, sanctify, or canonize our mothers. Let's let them be human like we are and love them as much as they love us anyway.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ANYONE WHO LOVES SOMEONE LIKE A MOTHER WOULD.

With love,

shinae

Mother's Day Eve Chicken & Waffles

I always tell the Monsters that they don't need to buy me gifts. And I mean that sincerely. But I will always be more than happy to cook with them, which is gift enough for me. 

+Dean Robinson Izzysat while Joey and I made the Chicken and Waffles (storebought frozen Belgian waffles today, and my fried chicken recipe) and Mads and I worked together on our Broccoli Raisin Slawlad.

Two timers went off on Joey at the same time - the last batch of chicken and the waffles in the oven - and he learned yet another valuable kitchen lesson today: Whatever you do, DON'T PANIC, and just do what you can, trying to remember which is more urgent. In this case, the waffles were more urgent than the fried chicken because we didn't want them to go from perfectly done to crispy, so I helped him out by taking the waffles out of the oven while he fished the last of the chicken out of the oil.

The rest of them went for gravy instead of maple, I went for both, and Joey, the kid who drinks Worcestershire out of the bottle when he thinks I'm not looking, looked at me like I'm weird. 

Cooking with my kids, eating fried chicken with the whole family, drinking a cold beer... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVE TO ME. :)

shinae

Full album HERE.