This Pork and Clams Chinese Stir fry is not only mouthwatering good, it tastes authentic. Easy and delicious Chinese at home!
The best clam stir fry ever!
Did I say the best? Yes, I did! I think I’ve only coined ‘best’ twice in my recipes because I don’t enjoy using that word lightly. The first time I mentioned best was for Tetsuya’s Japanese Dressing For Oysters and I still stand by that!
This Pork and Clams Chinese Stir fry certainly ticks all my boxes. When I first made it, I couldn’t believe that this dish came out of my kitchen. Seriously so good, it’s a restaurant-quality dish! I mean, I have eaten many Asian clam dishes, and this one is in a league of its own.
This recipe is from the talented Chinese/Australian chef Kylie Kwong. I have made a few slight changes, but this brilliant recipe is hers.
The thought of having pork and clams in one dish has never crossed my mind, but when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to give it a go. What’s really impressive about Kylie’s recipe is that it doesn’t call for any exotic or hard to find ingredients.
This stir-fry offers delicious clams and ground pork in a spicy savoury sauce. The pork mince transforms the dish and complements the clams beautifully. A simple stir-fry but with the right ingredients that work magically together. Garlic, ginger, eschalot, chilli, fermented black beans, soy sauce, malt vinegar and soy sauce.
How to buy and prepare clams
Have you ever bought expensive clams only to be disappointed that they taste gritty? Not a pleasurable experience at all, is it? I’ve done this a few times and even sometimes, after soaking the clams in water, the clams may still have some sand in them.
Thankfully, I discovered some fishmongers sell their clams grit-free. These are usually a bit more expensive because they’re kept alive and clean in water with a filter system. There’s usually a sign next to them that promises that the clams are sand-free!
Not only are these sand-free clams, but most of them are also alive, so you’re less likely to spend money on clams that don’t open. If you have a close look at the filtered clams, you would see what looks like their tongue sticking out of the shells, but it’s actually their feet. This is the only way I buy clams now because all I need to do is give them a quick rinse before cooking them.
If you’re unable to get your hand on filtered clams, you can soak them as advised by Kylie Kwong. Kylie advises us to soak the clams for 2 hours in cold water and change the water every 30 minutes.
The cooking time for clam is also crucial. Like most seafood, if you cook them for too long, they will turn rubbery. As soon as the clams pop open, they don’t have to be cooked much longer. For this recipe, we only cook the clams for no longer than 2 minutes.
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Ingredients for Pork and Clams Chinese Stir fry
Clams – I used pipis which are native to Australia, but any variety of firm and meaty small to medium-sized clams would work. Some fishmongers have clams sitting in buckets of water with a filter and a banner advising us that there’s no sand in them. You can tell by just looking at them they’re alive and healthy because you can see some flesh popping out of their shell. I always buy clams like this and cook them on the same day.
Pork mince (ground pork) – For the best taste, use pork with fat mixed in. Kylie Kwong’s recipe calls for pork belly mince, but I just used regular (not lean) pork mince.
Salted Black beans (fermented black beans) – I found packets of Chinese fermented black beans at our local Asian grocery store. They come vacuumed sealed with salt, water and black beans. They are not dry, but they’re also not mushy in texture. These black beans bring the dish to life because they add complex, salty savoury goodness to the dish. I recommend getting the real deal, but if you can’t get them, swap with 1 tbsp of black bean sauce.
Malt Vinegar is made from brewed malted barley and wheat. It’s dark brown and has a subtle nutty and caramel flavour. Chinese black vinegar (Chinkiang Vinegar) will also work as a substitute for this recipe.
Light soy sauce or regular soy sauce but avoid the dark or sweet soy sauce varieties, as these are not interchangeable.
Sesame oil is very aromatic with a roasted nutty flavour and aroma. They usually stock sesame oil in the oil or international section of the supermarket.
Eschalots (French shallots)- It’s so confusing, right? Shallots, green onions, spring onions and other small onions. It also doesn’t help that other countries call the same onions a different name! I’ve seen the stores here call shallots ‘eschalots’ or ‘French shallots’. Eschalots look like small brown onions but are skinny and oval-shaped. They’re difficult to peel and are way more expensive than other types of onions. They’re mild in flavour compared to onions, brown onions will work, but use half of the amount called for in the recipe.
Shaoxing cooking wine is a Chinese cooking wine, sometimes known as Shao Xing or Shao Hsing. It comprises water, rice, wheat, salt and alcohol. Bottles of shaoxing wine are cheap to buy from Asian specialty stores and some supermarkets stock them too. Mirin or Dry sherry are good substitutes for Shaoxing cooking wine.
How to make Pork and Clams Chinese Stir fry
Step-by-step guide with photos
Place half a cup of water in a deep frying pan/skillet or wok that comes with a lid. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then add in the clams. Cover and let the clams steam for a minute. Uncover and quickly remove the clams that have opened with a slotted spoon or tongs and place them into a large bowl. Discard any clams that haven’t opened after 2 minutes of cooking.
Make the sauce by combining soy sauce, malt vinegar, sesame oil and sugar in a small bowl, stir until sugar has dissolved.
Remove the remaining water from the wok, then use paper towels to dry the wok.
Stir-fry time!
Heat the oil over medium to high heat, then add in the ginger, garlic, shallot, and black beans. Stir-fry quickly for 30 seconds, then add in the pork and continue to stir-fry until the pork has browned. Add in the wine and cook for 30 seconds, then add in the clams, chillies and sauce. Cook for a few minutes or just until heated through. Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the chopped coriander. Serve immediately with hot steamed rice.
Try out these easy delicious and authentic Chinese inspired dishes, CHINESE ROAST DUCK and this healthy and simple POACHED CHICKEN IN SOY
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
Watch my Chinese Salt and Pepper Fish Video
Pork and Clams Chinese Stir fry
Ingredients
- 1 kg clams (small to medium) (NOTE 1)
- ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce (NOTE 2)
- 1 tbsp malt vinegar (NOTE 3)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (NOTE 4)
- 1 tsp brown sugar (packed)
- 2 tbsp peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 20 gm ginger (minced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 medium eschalot (French shallot, finely diced) (NOTE 5)
- 2 tbsp salted black beans (fermented black beans) (NOTE 6)
- 200 gm pork mince (ground pork) (NOTE 7)
- 3 tbsp Shaoxing wine (NOTE 8)
- 2 small red chillies (optional, thinly sliced)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
- Place half a cup of water in a deep frying pan/skillet or wok that comes with a lid. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then add in the clams. Cover and let the clams steam for a minute. Uncover and quickly remove the clams that have opened with a slotted spoon or tongs and place them into a large bowl. Discard any clams that haven't opened after 2 minutes of cooking.
- Make the sauce by combining soy sauce, malt vinegar, sesame oil and sugar in a small bowl, stir until sugar has dissolved.
- Remove the remaining water from the wok, then use paper towels to dry the wok.
- Heat the oil over medium to high heat, then add in the ginger, garlic, shallot, and black beans. Stir-fry quickly for 30 seconds, then add in the pork and continue to stir-fry until the pork has browned. Add in the wine and cook for 30 seconds, then add in the clams, chillies and sauce. Cook for a few minutes or just until heated through. Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the chopped coriander. Serve immediately with hot steamed rice.
