What Is This Clam in Iloilo? It Is Imbao, the Mangrove Clam
The big, round clams in Iloilo seafood soup are imbao, the mangrove clam. What it is, where it comes from, where to order it, and how to tell it from diwal, talaba and halaan.
A bowl of big, pale clams in a cloudy broth, ordered at Breakthrough in Iloilo City at 8:23 PM on May 21, 2023. The clam is imbao, and it grows buried in mangrove mud.
If you have eaten seafood in Iloilo and been handed a bowl of fist-sized clams in soup, the clam was almost certainly imbao, the mangrove clam. It is rounder and puffier than the usual halaan, with a thin, cream-colored shell ringed with growth lines, and it is served in a light broth so the clam does the talking. Locals order it as soup, steamed or grilled. Some eat it raw.
What is imbao?
Imbao (Anodontia edentula) is a clam that lives in the mud of mangrove forests and the mudflats beside them, buried 30 to 90 centimeters down. It grows to about 8 or 9 centimeters across and up to around 200 grams, which is why a single one fills a soup spoon and then some.
Nobody digs blindly for it. Collectors walk the mud at low tide looking for the small hole the clam’s siphon leaves at the surface, which they call the mata, the eye, and reach down for the clam underneath. It is gathered across the Visayas and Mindanao, and the fishing towns of northern Iloilo are among the places it comes from.
What comes in the bowl
Out of the shell, each imbao is one dense piece: a gray, rounded body with a pale stalk at one end, far bigger than anything in a bowl of halaan. Clams this size release a lot of their own liquid as they cook, so the broth comes out cloudy and needs very little added. In the bowl above it is finished with scallions, with soy sauce on the table if you want more salt.
Where to eat imbao in Iloilo
The bowl above came from Breakthrough in Villa, where the live seafood waits in tanks and you order by pointing. Imbao sits on its board beside scallops and managat. The seaside seafood houses around Villa and Arevalo are the other places to look. Ask how it is sold before you order, since some kitchens price it by the piece and others by weight, and the board price moves with supply.
Iloilo’s shellfish, side by side
Which shell is on the table?
Imbao
Mangrove clam
Round, puffy and pale, up to 8 or 9 cm. Lives buried in mangrove mud and is found by the small hole its siphon leaves.
Order it as soup, the way it comes at Breakthrough, or steamed. One clam is a full mouthful.
Diwal
Angel wing clam
Long, thin and white, like a folded wing. Usually baked with butter and garlic.
Harvest was banned in July 2025 and the ban was lifted in May 2026. The full story is in our diwal guide.
Talaba
Oyster
Rough, flat and craggy. Sold by the basket at the roadside oyster stands and eaten raw with vinegar, or grilled.
Where to get it and what it costs: talaba in Iloilo.
Scallop
Baked on the half shell
The fan-shaped one. In Iloilo seafood houses it usually comes baked on its own shell with garlic and butter, often under cheese.
Order a plate for the table while the soup is coming.
Halaan
Everyday clam
The small clam of tinola and pancit. A fraction of an imbao’s size and much thinner in the shell.
If the clams in your soup fit three to a spoon, it is halaan, not imbao.
Drawings are simplified, not to scale.
Imbao and the mangroves
Imbao needs standing mangroves to exist, and both have taken a beating. Overharvesting and the clearing of mangrove forests have thinned wild stocks in many places, and fisheries researchers in Iloilo have worked on raising it in mangrove-friendly farms since the late 1990s. It is still on menus, but it is a wild clam from a shrinking habitat. Order it, and leave the smallest ones in the market.
For the rest of a seafood day in the city, see our Iloilo food itinerary and the Iloilo City travel guide.
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Imbao FAQ
What is imbao in English?
The mangrove clam, Anodontia edentula.
How is imbao cooked in Iloilo?
Most often as a light soup with scallions. It is also steamed or grilled, and some people eat it raw.
What is the difference between imbao and halaan?
Size and shape. Imbao is round, puffy and up to 8 or 9 centimeters across, and lives in mangrove mud. Halaan is the small everyday clam of tinola.
Where can I eat imbao in Iloilo City?
Breakthrough in Villa serves it from its live seafood counter, and other seaside seafood houses in Villa and Arevalo carry it when supply allows.
