Cycle 17 – Item 91

Post 5,933

6 (Mon) April 2026

Spaghetti alle Vongole Gigante

1.5

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with W and IZ

While IZ’s celebratory birthday dinner was last night (see generally 17.090 Dinner Omakase), I cooked his favorite homemade dish for his actual birthday tonight.

To make it extra special, I used loads of jumbo mosi jogae (cyclina clams), each nearly the size of a golfball (see generally 11.346 Taste Test: Cyclina v Orient).  However, the sauce turned out inedibly salty, even though I hadn’t added a grain of salt – my theory is that the clams were holding in salty water, maybe a tablespoon each, that released when they opened up during the cook.  Furthermore, the higher concentration of salt prevented emulsification, leaving the sauce unpleasantly watery.  I suppose that’s why restaurants only include 1 or 2 large clams in any given dish.

 (See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See HANSIK)

(See BOOZE)