The Weird But Delicious Razor Clam

If you just heard the name and never seen it, you might not think that this razor clam is weird. From the look if its shell there's nothing bizarre about this creature but their shape inside and its behavior is quite amazing and weird at the same time. It won't be much of an appetizing cuisine at your first sight for sure but it taste good.

Razor clam is a bivalve shelled animal, the same type as clams, cockles and mussels. It has two symmetrical hard shells which protect their inner body. These shell is connected at one end and can be open at another end, same characteristic as clams, cockles, mussels and oyster.

The shape of this thing is weird inside, up to you to interpret what it looks like... LOL...

Looks delicious? No you can't eat the shell, only the white flesh.

I've been having razor clam since I was a kid and will never miss it every time its season come. From where I am from, this thing is called "ambal" and it is one of the famous exotic seafood delicacies in Sarawak. The season for this creature to be harvested is normally between October and March after their breeding season between April until September.

Razor clam can be mostly found in the inter-tidal zone of the sea in which during the very low tide a sandflats area is created. Locals normally harvest razor clam during this time when most of the areas are exposed. The method they use to harvest this seafood is very unique and normally a secret kept by the locals for many years. I've experienced it myself a few times before.

Razor clam or "ambal" cooked in curry

The taste is almost like mussel but more juicy, I'm not sure how it is for other people but personally it taste delicious. From my experience, there's only two ways to cooked this razor clam, either with soy sauce or curry. I prefer the soy sauce because I think it taste better than the curry one. Some said that this razor clam can also be found in some other countries but might be of different species. I'm not sure how they cooked it there but I've seen some people grilled it although I've never tried it myself.

Anyway, if you're visiting Sarawak during the razor clam season and you want to try it, you can buy it at the local wet market in Kuching city. the capital of Sarawak. This seafood does not occurred in all places. If you don;t want to cook it yourself, you can find it in the menu of most seafood restaurants in this city as well.

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