Thin Shell and my granny
by Sun

“Chaozhou people should enjoy seafood and know how to eat fish skillfully!” That was what my father told me since I was small. The hometown of my grandmother and my father is Chaozhou, a coastal city located in the easternmost part of Guangdong Province. Due to its geographical location, all kinds of fish and seafood are common in Chaozhou ordinary meals. I inherited the seafood eating habit from my family and I feel very privileged to enjoy some unique seafood in Chaozhou, one of them is “Thin-shell”. Thin-shell is a kind of clam. Its color and shape looks like blue mussel except it is as small as a fingernail.

Thin-shells grow in mudflat and they are the tastiest in summer. In Hong Kong, they can only be found in few seafood markets during summertime. I remember when I was young, my parents usually bought a large heap of thin-shells sticking together with dark mud. Then my siblings and I, all the kids, would have to do the “dirty work” - spending a lot of effort to detach the mud from thin-shells and clean them up thoroughly under water.

Usually the thin-shells were not cooked before the dinner. It was usually served red-hot in the middle of the dinner. And there came the showtime of my grandma, the chef of thin-shells. In 10 minutes of crackling sound, choking smell of chili and smoky air from the wok, grandma carried a large plate of thin-shells from the kitchen. As soon as the plate was put on the dinning table, a fight among my family would begin – everyone competed for each shell as fast as he/she can. This is because the flesh inside each thin-shells is so small that you have to eat a lot to enjoy the taste! That was always the exciting moment of my family dinner. After the period of busing eating, the only thing left in front of everyone was big stacks of empty shells.

My grandma was the chef of thin-shell because she knew the best trick of thin-shell cooking. I always remember the image of her walking proudly into the kitchen in the middle of the dinner, coming back to the dining table carrying the most delicious dish in the world. Unfortunately, this scene does not occur anymore in recent years, while grandma has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and eventually entered elderly home last year. Although I can still visit grandma every week, I can no longer admire her cooking skill nor enjoy thin-shells with her together.

Working on this food project with CIP, I realized that the special Chaozhou food, to some extend, played an important role in my own recognition of being a Chaozhou person. Arriving at Hong Kong in the 1950s, my grandma and father maintains lots of Chaozhou habits (mostly religious rituals). Among those, the habit which is profoundly inherited to my generation is eating, i.e. the love of fish and traditional food. It leads me to deeper understanding to Chaozhou culture. And today I can still feel the strong sense of Chaozhou identity in my family. For example, brain-damaged grandma can still remember her hometown as Chaozhou (although she can hardly recall my name now). Father is planning to bring his grandsons to Chaozhou this summer to understand more about their origin. I am sure my nephews will fall in love with the food there!

Ingredient:
Thin-shells, Basil, Garlic, Chili

Directions:
1. Detach thin-shells from mud. Clean thoroughly with water
2. Roughly clean basil with water. Cut garlic and chili into small pieces
3. Fry garlic, chili and basil with oil until tasty smell is released.
4. Add thin-shells and fry quickly under “big fire” until they are just done.

材料：
金不換(也叫九層塔)、薄殼(也叫海瓜子)、蒜、剁椒

做法：
1、摘薄殼，要將薄殼從一團團土中摘出來是細心及耐心活，市場有時也有賣摘好的，不過自己摘會比較新鮮乾淨。
2、將薄殼洗淨瀝幹
3、金不換買薄殼的時候都有配好，稍洗一下就可以了
4、熱鍋下油，等油熱了將蒜和金不換爆炒
5、待香氣逸出，將薄殼倒入翻炒，加鹽、剁椒，再加點魚露會理美味。
6、薄殼炒到半開就可以了收火上盤了，不能炒過火，炒久了肉會縮，影響口感。