Spicy Lala 香辣啦啦

This dish was created when I needed to rinse my chili sauce bottle.

An instant hit with my hubby, adding more fans to the list later on.

kekekeke..

Lalas taste best when cooked fresh, and for that I mean, when they are still alive. When u get them home, soak them in water (around 2L for 500gm lala) with 2 tsp of salt. This way, they'll come alive and peek out of their shells....When they peek out, they'll also spew out the silt in them.

The thing about cooking lala is that, they have to be parboiled beforehand.

Just boil some water, dump them in and wait until they open up. Some may open up faster and some later. Take out those that opened up earlier and wait for the rest to open up. Discard lalas that don't open. They may be dead before u cooked them, or they are just empty shells containing silt. This way, the sauce that u cook them in later on will not be watery and "fishy".

If you're not cooking them the day u bought them, parboil and keep in the fridge for a day or 2. Don't keep live lalas in the fridge, it'll kill them, and u'll end up having dead lalas.

Ingredients:

500 gm lalas (parboiled)

1/2 cup finely chopped big red onion

1 pip garlic, finely chopped

1 red chili, finely chopped (omit if u're no fan of chili)

1 Tbsp meat curry powder (I use Baba's)

3 Tbsp chilli sauce (Maggi type)

3/4 cup water

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp chopped green onions

Heat wok, saute garlic in oil til fragrant, add in onions and chili. Fry until soft and very fragrant. Add in curry powder, saute for a minute or until fragrant, then put in chili sauce.

Give it another minute then pour in water, salt and sugar. Cook until sauce thickens, taste... .Put in parboiled lalas and give it a good stir.

Dish up and sprinkle on chopped green onions.

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If u have curry leaves or lemon grass, feel free to add in during the curry powder stage.

This is always a sudden add-on dish bcos my MIL often gets it from her lala seller friend, and I don't have fresh herbs around my house. Even w/o curry leaves or lemon grass, it still taste good.

Do try this out!!