Empty table and reload Json data

My use case is that once I receive data from server side, I need to massage data (add a tags, classes, and the like) before I can add it to the table.

I can remove all data by using $("#example tbody").empty(); then I can use t.add().row([array]);
but this is slow also need to fix pagination

Is there a shortcut to that to empty table, add rows and adjust pagination?

Thanks,

-AI