Halaan Soup

by Ariel Jasa
(Mandaluyong, Philippines)

Not your usual Halaan soup or clam soup, this recipe certainly is for the adventurous spirit in you. If you want the usual ho-hum, so-so seafood soup, go to the Tinola-like route -- (or this recipe minus the soda and chili peppers).

But for an interesting twist, I added a bottle of sprite soda, which gave it some depth and sweetness, and long chili peppers for a little heat.

Cooking the soup is quite easy -- the cleaning of the clams is not so, depending on where they were bought.

I soak the clams in water for about an hour to spit out the dirt inside, then I brush the shells one by one to take off the dirt - then rinse them.

Also, I cook them rather quickly - about 5 to 6 minutes after the liquid boils, otherwise the clams would be real tough and chewy.


Ingredients:


1/2 Kilo Halaan or Clams
1 Bottle Sprite 250 ml. soda
1 cup Water
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 piece Onion
1 thumb size Ginger
1-2 long chili peppers (siling pang-sigang) (optional)
1 bundle Sili leaves
2 tablespoon Fish sauce ( patis)
Salt and Pepper to taste


Procedures:

1. Saute the garlic, onion and ginger in oil.

2. Add clams, fish sauce and chili peppers and cook for a minute.

3. Pour in the soda and water, bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes or until the clams opens up.

4. Season with salt(if needed) and pepper, then add the sili leaves.

5. Serve hot with steamed white rice.