- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds small clams, thoroughly cleaned
- 3 tablespoons Nam Prik Pao (roasted chile paste)
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (optional)
- 3 Chee Fah chiles (mild red chiles)
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 cup Bai Kraprao (holy basil leaves), or to taste
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed pan or wok over high heat; add the oil and wait 1 minute more. Mix garlic into the hot oil and cook until it just turns golden brown, about 1 minute. Add clams and chile paste; stir until clams are coated.
- Stir fish sauce, chiles, and sugar into clams; cook and stir until the clams have opened, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Mix basil into clam mixture and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.