thin king

A safe way to eat succulent cheehum

Beside the oyster, cheehum is another favourite clam seafood in our region.
Cheehum is an unique mollusc, it is very rich in protein and calcium and is
bloody. Alas, eating cheehum in its best state, as raw as possible, is not
safe healthwise. Long ago, any ill-effect was a one-time purging the next day;
nowadays, hepatitis do scare the hell out of people. And eating well-cooked
rubbery cheehum is no longer appealing to most people. So, what fun is there
in eating laksa and fried kway-teow without the succulent cheehum, or getting
worried after eating them. Well-cooked cheehum becomes tough.

Well, there is a way to enjoy cheehum safely, well-cooked and yet succulent.
Do the following:
1. Scald the clams with boiling water evenly by swirling the hot water.
2. When bubbles appear, or blood oozes out of the clams, drain the water.
3. Open the clams and remove the cheehum.
4. Wash the cheehum and it is ready, to cook or to wait in the fridge.
5. Like this, the cheehum when well-fried remains succulent.

Clams are generally very dirty, full of mud sticking to their flesh.
There is a good way to clean them, or better still, let them clean themselves.
Do the following:
A. Wash the clams with water first to remove all external dirt.
B. Place them in a large basin and top up with sea water until they are submerged.
Reconstitute sea water if necessary ( about 40 grams of salt to one litre of water)
C. Leave them alone for a couple of hours; they will eject most of the mud etc.
D. Wash and drain off the dirty water.
E. They are now clean to be opened as in steps 1 to 5 above.

While the cheehum when prepared this way will remain succulent
when fully cooked, there is no guarantee against hepatitis etc.
which is still subject to cleanliness and care hygienically,
and being really well-cooked.


Have a nice weekend.
Ronald