Pork and Clams Chinese Stir fry
This Pork and Clams Chinese Stir fry is not only mouthwatering good, it tastes authentic. Easy and delicious Chinese at home!
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.
Notes
(NOTE 1) 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.
(NOTE 2) Light soy sauce or regular soy sauce but avoid the dark or sweet soy sauce varieties, as these are not interchangeable.
(NOTE 3) 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.
(NOTE 4) 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.
(NOTE 5) 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.
(NOTE 6) 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.
(NOTE 7) 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.
(NOTE 8) 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.
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.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 295kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 17gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 810mgPotassium: 299mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 344IUVitamin C: 34mgCalcium: 36mgIron: 2mg