Japanese cuisine is one of the most popular cuisine in Malaysia. Everywhere we go, we will definitely find a few Japanese restaurants in our midst. This is due to our history of Japanese colonisation in Malaysia. Since then, Japanese cuisine has been introduced and is popular to this day.
Since Japanese cuisine is such a popular choice of food among Malaysians, the dishes have slowly transformed to accommodate our local taste buds. It is slightly difficult nowadays to find genuine and authentic Japanese food in Malaysia.
However, there are a lot of authentic Japanese restaurants coming up as immigrants from Japan have chosen Malaysia as their second home, thus the decision of opening up a Japanese restaurant in our country.
One of the rare dishes that we may find in our local Japanese restaurant menu is Asari Butter. Plainly put it, Asari means clams in Japanese. Hence, Asari Butter is also known as steamed clams in butter and garlic.
Different Types Of Asari Butter
Asari Butter can be cooked in various methods with different ingredients. The most typical one is steamed clams in soy, butter and garlic. This dish has been made according to Asian taste. The soy and butter give out a fresh aromatic scent to the dish, with the addition of garlic, the dish is impeccable.
Similarly to the Italian dish – Vongole Pasta, Asari Butter can be cooked in sake or white wine as well. This will help to deglaze the clams to prevent fishy smell, as well as enhancing the seafood flavour in the dish.
Sometimes, the Japanese might get creative in their dish as well. They will add spring cabbages together with Asari Butter. The cabbages give a sweet flavour while combining with Asari Butter, giving out a steamy and sweet clam broth to the dish.
Occasionally, in certain Japanese restaurants, this dish is cooked to make soup. So instead of having in it light broth, certain chefs may cook Asari Butter with lots of liquid, making this dish a soup.
This is actually not a bad idea, even though it’s an entirely different concept of Asari Butter, this soup variation of the dish pairs really well with a bowl of Japanese rice and other side dishes.
How To Eat It?
You may choose to dip your fried dishes or other grilled dishes into the broth, creating an umami taste like you have never experienced before.
Imagine this, a supposedly crunchy bite of food becomes soft and hot. With a diverse flavour profile ranging from salty to sweet to the various flavour of clams and garlic fragrance. This dish is certainly the definition of perfect!
Alternatively, you may eat this together with noodles. You can either dip a bowl of cooked noodles into the broth or have it in Tsukemen style – a way of eating ramen noodles by dipping noodles into the ramen broth separately.
Where To Find This Dish?
Apart from Japanese restaurants in your area, you can actually make this yourself at home! It is extremely easy and quick, with only five ingredients needed, you can cook this under thirty minutes.
If you would like to know which restaurants to get this amazing dish, check out below:
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