Drunken lala is a dish that I sorta invented by taking the ideas from drunken prawns and a clam with white wine dish that I had from The Apartment (first introduced by Suan).

I use a small pot to in order to have a steaming effect by closing the lid, as well as be able to retain the Chinese wine as the juice to go with rice. The “sauce” turned out pretty good, it has strong rice wine and seafood flavor as well as a hint of spiciness from chili padi.

The key to this dish is the freshness of lala, I would recommend that you get them from morning market and cook them the very same night. Overnight lala isn’t generally a good thing to consume.

ingredients for drunken lala
ingredients for drunken lala

Anyway, here are the ingredients:

  • at least half a kilo of lala, preferably large size
  • ginger – slices
  • half a bulb of garlic – peeled
  • spring onion – cut into 1.5 inches
  • 6-8 chili padi – whole
  • a cup of Chinese cooking wine
  • pepper and salt to taste
  • 2 table spoon of cooking oil

use a small pot to retain more moisture
use a small pot to retain more moisture

The instructions are very simple and straight forward, the key is to use a small pot and never a nonstick frying pan lest you want to lose the layer of nonstick teflon.

  • heat up cooking oil, and fry ginger and garlic till fragrant
  • add lala and fry it till most of them are opened
  • add cooking wine and bring to boil
  • add chili padi and spring onion, then close lid for 5 minutes
  • add salt and pepper to taste
  • serve while hot

drunken lala with chili padi & spring onion
drunken lala with chili padi & spring onion

And there you go, I paid some RM 15 for these fresh lala at the morning market, but prices are seasonal so your mileage may vary.

Do check out my other recipes, happy cooking!

KY cooks – Drunken Lala
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32 thoughts on “KY cooks – Drunken Lala

  • November 8, 2011 at 10:45 pm
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    delish. . . .well done . . .

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    • November 9, 2011 at 10:08 am
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      foodcrazee: thanks bro

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  • November 8, 2011 at 11:00 pm
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    Yeah, true that, some things just aren’t meant to be cooked with non-stick pans. I think it’s not so much the hardness of the shell as the ridged texture and sharp edges of the lala shell, that would be the most likely culprit in scratching the pan.:)

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    • November 9, 2011 at 10:09 am
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      Huai Bin: yah, unless you want to replace non stick pans every so often. 😀

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  • November 8, 2011 at 11:53 pm
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    Spicy Lala.. I prefer cook with sambal.. taste better..

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    • November 9, 2011 at 10:09 am
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      Nikel: lala with sambal is new… kam heong you mean?

      Reply
  • November 9, 2011 at 4:40 am
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    Such a simple recipe. Might cook this next year. hehe. too many recipes to try!

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    • November 9, 2011 at 10:10 am
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      Michelle: haha next year is just a couple months away 😀

      Reply
  • November 9, 2011 at 10:43 am
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    KY,

    Is the best to boil or steam the Lala for them until they’re open. If not some of them might contains a lot of sand, that might spoil the whole dish.

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    • November 9, 2011 at 10:52 am
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      Alan Lim: that sounds like a good idea.

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      • November 9, 2011 at 10:54 am
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        I hate to go restaurant who missed this step, then you will end up open a sandy Lala…

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        • November 9, 2011 at 10:58 am
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          Alan: ya, will keep that in mind 😀

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    • November 9, 2011 at 10:58 am
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      Anonymousmich: you’re welcome 😀

      Reply
  • November 9, 2011 at 10:58 am
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    Looks awesome, dude! BTW, you can try using the bigger ‘sah pak’ (rounder, thick shell type that looks a bit like jering) with more meat. Carrefour Wangsa Maju was selling ‘live’ ones in water tanks for about RM7 a kilo!

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    • November 9, 2011 at 10:58 am
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      Kong: yeah I love those ‘sah pak’ too! RM 7 a kilo sounds very reasonable.

      Reply
    • November 9, 2011 at 1:59 pm
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      BangsarBabe: makanan biasa only maaaa 😀

      Reply
  • November 9, 2011 at 2:15 pm
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    the most optimum drunken lala results in drunken diners. heheh

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    • November 9, 2011 at 2:45 pm
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      Sean: every dinner is drunken dinner for u, no? 😛

      Reply
  • November 9, 2011 at 5:49 pm
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    The name Drunken is so predictable, i like names a bit mysterious and unique.. how about Spirited Lala? LOL

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    • November 10, 2011 at 8:20 am
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      Lb: you sure are a lot more creative than me! hahaha.

      Reply
    • November 10, 2011 at 8:20 am
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      JD: ya turned out well 😀

      Reply
  • November 9, 2011 at 10:14 pm
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    drunken lala! awesome yumminess:D so when are you opening a restaurantlah?

    i sometimes add lemongrass sticks for a different oomph.

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    • November 10, 2011 at 8:20 am
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      missyblurkit: the lemongrass idea is good! thanks. 😀

      Reply
  • November 11, 2011 at 11:48 am
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    wah this looks so good, I also want!

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  • November 12, 2011 at 10:06 pm
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    you should replace the Chinese cooking wine with some good ol’ Jack Daniels..

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    • November 13, 2011 at 2:04 pm
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      RealGUnners: mahal la wei!

      Reply
  • December 21, 2011 at 5:16 pm
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    bro , u really Keng
    I suggest if want the dishes watery, add cup of chicken stock.

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    • December 22, 2011 at 9:59 am
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      9394: haha thank you, that’s far too kind. chicken stock is a good idea but I usually try to avoid those chicken cubes, maybe time to make my own stock 😀

      Reply

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