Clams in Black-Bean Sauce

Name: Clams in Black-Bean Sauce
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: asian
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon cornstarch; 2 tablespoons salted black beans; 2 tablespoons peanut oil; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 2 scallions, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons minced ginger; 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes; 2 pounds Manila or littleneck clams, scrubbed and dried; 3 tablespoons Shaoshing wine or dry sherry; 3/4 cup unsalted chicken broth; 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Recipe from Paul Mones

Adapted by Nicole Mones

Total Time: About 20 minutes
Rating: 4(21)
Comments: Read comments

“Clams in black-bean sauce is another American mainstay: bright, piquant, boasting more loudly of its flavorings than of its clams,” Nicole Mones wrote in The New York Times Magazine in 2007. Adapted from her husband, Paul, this recipe comes together quickly. Salted black beans are paired with bright aromatics, a wine-infused broth and briny clams, possibly the best part. As Ms. Mones wrote, “Discovering the baby clams at the bottom in their little bath of broth is the dish’s final delight.” —Nicole Mones

Featured in: The Way We Eat; Double Happiness

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4

1teaspoon cornstarch
2tablespoons salted black beans
2tablespoons peanut oil
3garlic cloves, minced
2scallions, finely chopped
2tablespoons minced ginger
1teaspoon red-pepper flakes
2pounds Manila or littleneck clams, scrubbed and dried
3tablespoons Shaoshing wine or dry sherry
¾cup unsalted chicken broth
2tablespoons chopped cilantro

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon warm water and set aside. Soak the salted beans in ½ cup warm water for 10 minutes. Drain, and mash coarsely with a fork.
Step 2
Set a wok over high heat and pour in the oil. Add the garlic, scallions and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the beans and red-pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Drop in the clams and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then pour in the wine and broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, until most of the clams have opened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture and raise heat to high. Stir and cook, uncovered, until the sauce adheres to the clams, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the cilantro.

Ratings

4 out of 5

21 user ratings

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Comments

Mary5 years ago

I thought this dish needed something to serve with the sauce and so cooked some rice noodles before I tackled the clams, then threw them into the wok with the opened clams along with the dissolved cornstarch and stirred them around for a few minutes. Perfect. Delicious and spicy with all the ginger. And yes,fermented black beans can be found in Chinese groceries.

ellenor4 years ago

this receipt calls for 2 tablespoons of black beans is that correct? it seems a bit short

Frommette5 years ago

How important is the corn starch?

Mary5 years ago

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