Thai Steamed Clams with Galangal and Lemongrass, Made with Monk Fruit Sweetener

Method

1. Wash the galangal, ginger and lemongrass and slice them thinly. Wash the red horn chili and cut it into lengths. Wash the kaffir lime leaves and cut them into fine strips. Crush the bird's eye chilies.
2. Pick the leaves off the water spinach and cut the stems into lengths of about 5 to 6cm.
3. Mix about 1.5 liters water with 1 tablespoon all purpose flour, add the clams and the bird's eye chili and soak for 60 minutes, then lift the clams out and rinse them.
4. Put 300ml water in a pot and stir in 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and 1 teaspoon Thai hotpot powder until dissolved.
5. Add the galangal, ginger, lemongrass, red horn chili and the clams, and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes.
6. Once the clams open, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, add the water spinach and the kaffir lime leaf, stir and turn off the heat.

Tips

• Soaking the clams in water mixed with flour draws the sand out faster and more thoroughly than salt water.
• Cooking longer than 2 minutes from the boil shrinks the clams and turns them rubbery.
• Thai hotpot powder is sold at the spice counter in supermarkets, and sate chili oil with a little tamarind paste stands in for it.
• Fresh galangal is sold in Vietnamese markets, and ginger is not a substitute, as the aroma is completely different.
• Give the water spinach and kaffir lime leaf one quick turn and take the pot off, since further cooking leaves the stems limp.