Stir Fried Pork and Clams

Ingredients

1kg baby clams
1 Tbs light soy sauce
1 Tbs malt vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbs peanut oil
5cm x 2cm knob (20g) ginger, roughly diced
3 garlic cloves, roughly diced
2 Tbs salted black beans
200g minced pork belly
3 Tbs shao hsing wine or dry sherry
2 red shallots, halved and finely sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced

Method

Soak clams in plenty of cold water for 2 hours, changing the water every 30 minutes.

This will help purge the clams of any grit. Drain.

Bring 125mL (1/2 cup) water to the boil in a wok over high heat. Add clams and cover.

After 1–2 minutes, the clams should start opening. As they begin to open, immediately remove them from wok with tongs and place in a bowl. You can use your tongs to tap on the shells to encourage them to open up, but discard any that have not opened after about 5 minutes. Drain water from wok and wipe clean with kitchen paper.

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil in a small bowl.

Heat peanut oil in the hot wok until the surface seems to shimmer slightly.

Add ginger, garlic and black beans and stir-fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly to ensure the black beans don’t burn.

Add pork and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until just browned. Add wine or sherry and cook for 30 seconds.

Return clams to the wok, add soy sauce mixture and shallot and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened.

Remove from the heat and toss through the spring onion. Transfer to a large platter
and serve immediately.



BACKGROUND:

I had come to realise that many otherwise enthusiastic cooks were reluctant to try cooking Chinese food, because they thought the ingredients were too exotic or the technique too difficult. I decided it was high time someone wrote an easy to follow Chinese cookbook that would dispel the myth that Chinese cooking was not for the home cook by presenting simple recipes ... I could not have been more thrilled with the response.



Recipes from the book ‘Simple Chinese Cooking Class’ by Kylie Kwong & photography by Earl Carter, published by Lantern rrp $59.95.

Credits: ‘Simple Chinese Cooking Class’ by Kylie Kwong

Photo Credits: Earl Carter