Last week, my wife’s grandpa pulled a bag out of the back of his truck and handed it to me. I asked what was in it, and he said, “Clams.” I thanked him as I opened the bag to find that it was indeed filled with multiple pounds of clams. So, I started thinking about how to cook with all those clams! The first meal up was an Asian inspired stuffed clam shell appetizer, where we filled our shells with clams in a homemade sauce.
While we served our dish as an appetizer, they’d make a good main if you cooked more than we did…or as an addition to fried rice if you prefer to leave them out of the shell for plating!
Time: 25 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Clams (we used fresh in the shell)
- Scallion Onions
- For your Sauce:
- Sesame Oil
- Soy Sauce
- Black Vinegar
- Sugar
- Sesame Seeds
- A little Corn Starch and enough water to dissolve it
Method:
- Add some water to a large pan with steep sides or a pot, and bring it to a boil.
- As your water heats, wash off your clams. We scrubbed them with a toothbrush that we keep in our kitchen almost exclusively for shellfish.
- When your water is boiling, place your clams in, and cook until the shells pop open. Once a shell opens, remove from the water. If any shells do not open, discard those clams.
- As your clams cook, combine your sauce ingredients (all except for the corn starch in water) in a saucepan. Also, slice the green tops of your scallion onions.
- When your clams are done cooking and have begun to cool just enough to touch, use a fork to remove each clam from its shell. Then, twist the shell apart, and keep half of each shell for plating later.
- Heat your sauce ingredients, and when they start to simmer, mix your corn starch with some water, and stir to dissolve. Then, pour it into your saucepan, and allow to thicken a bit.
- Add your clams into the sauce, and cook until they are coated with the sauce.
- When your clams are hot, scoop them into the half shells, and pour your sauce evenly overtop.
- Sprinkle your scallion slices overtop.
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
