San Bei Clams
with a Sambal Twist

Three-cup technique, Southeast Asian soul — built for Oregon's foraged bounty.

San Bei Clams fresh from the pan.

Clam season is coming back to the Oregon Coast — and this recipe, born on a coastal highway in Taiwan and refined in a Singapore kitchen, is ready for it.

The weather is starting to warm, and that means we can start planning clam digs along the Oregon Coast again. Which always makes me think about what delicious, easy way to cook the fresh seafood we get to forage here in the Pacific Northwest.

San Bei (三杯, "three cup") is a classic Taiwanese technique — equal parts sesame oil, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine — traditionally used with chicken. But during a trip through Yilan's hot spring country last spring, a coastal seafood stop changed everything. We pointed at clams. The kitchen did the rest — it was one of those places where you pick your own seafood from the display, then chat with the server about how you'd like it cooked. Simple, interactive, and so memorable. That day we had San Bei Clams — a small shift in protein that completely transformed the dish. Briny, aromatic, deeply comforting.

Back in Singapore this year, fresh clams appeared at the market and triggered the memory. With laksa leaves aka răm răm growing in the garden and my mom's sambal close at hand, the dish drifted naturally — brighter, more aromatic, a little Southeast Asian. The sambal steps in for the sesame oil, bringing its own warmth and depth. The herbs do the rest.

This recipe travels through

The seafood restaurant in Yilan where it all started.

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