Name: Savoury Black Bean Clams
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fermented black beans; 120 ml (4 fl oz) Chinese Chicken Stock or store-bought fresh stock; 2 tablespoons groundnut oil; 2.7 kg (6 lb) medium-sized fresh clams, scrubbed; 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil; 2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry; 1 teaspoon sugar; 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic; 225 g (8 oz) minced beef or pork; 2 tablespoons light soy sauce; 3 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions; 1½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger; 30 g (1 oz) fresh coriander sprigs, to garnish; 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Easy Family Dishes

By Ken Hom

Published 1998

About

As the poorest of the poor, the first Chinese immigrants in America (mainly in California) scratched out a meagre living as best they could. Fortunately, they were used to such a challenge, given the dire poverty that had marked their lives in China. One basic need was readily supplied: California was rich in edibles, including many that the Spanish and Anglo residents shunned. (In the old Kung Fu tv series, there were many scenes in which the hero satisfied his hunger with the most