Manila Clams with Black Bean Sauce

Manila clams are the sweetest and probably the smallest hard-shell clams you will find in the market, making them the favorite of many professional chefs. Manila clams need only about 3-5 minutes to steam open.

Manila clams are widely farmed in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in Washington State and British Columbia. Unlike some kinds of fish farming, clam farming poses little threat to the environment because these tasty bivalves are hatched in pens and then live their lives in the wild.

From a cooking standpoint, most Manila clams are steamed. You can certainly eat them on the half shell, but few people do for no real reason: They taste every bit as sweet as the Eastern quahogs we eat on the half shell, although Manila clams will be less salty.

Manilas are classically used in pasta and soups. If you want to mix them with other seafood, they go well with crab.

Any clams that do not open their shells while cooking  are suspect and should be tossed.

This recipe is Cantonese and is wonderful served with steamed jasmine rice on Chinese New Year.

The province of Canton, now officially known as Guangdong, is renowned for its super-fresh, subtly prepared food.

"It's the finest cuisine in China," says New Jersey-based Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, a Chinese cooking authority and author who has been dubbed the Cantonese Julia Child.

2 pounds manila clams, soaked with a tablespoon corn meal, the rinsed twice, scrubbed and rinsed again

2 Tablespoons fermented black beans, soaked in water, drained, mashed

2 Large cloves garlic, crushed, minced

1 Tablespoon peeled, minced ginger

2 Teaspoons black soy sauce

¼ Cup Shaohsing wine

1 Cup Bar Harbor or another good clam juice

3 shallots, chopped finely

1 Teaspoons seasoned rice vinegar

2 Tablespoon oyster sauce

2 Tablespoon corn starch

1 Teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper

2 scallion greens, cut diagonally as garnish

Peanut oil

Soak clams in cold water to which has been added a bit of corn meal. The corn meal will cause the clams to open thereby shedding the salt water. Allow to rest un-disturbed so clams open, about ¾ hour. Under cold running water, scrub the outside of the clams with a stiff brush, then rinse twice.

Dissolve cornstarch in  1 tablespoon cold water and retain. Add oil to hot wok or large pre-heated hot cast-iron pan. Add drained clams, and toss with a spoon/chun. Add ginger, and shallots. Toss until clams open. 

Add black beans, Shaohsing wine, soy sauce, oyster suace, red pepper, sugar, garlic, rice vinegar. Stir fry a minute or two. Add clam juice, and  disolved constarch mixture. Stir and heat until the suace thickens. Taste and then correct seasonings, adding white pepper if needed. Garnish with scallions greens then plate.

Tender Tagliatelle, Edamame, Sorrel, Mint, with Buttery Aged Havarti

Nuttiness of aged havarti cheese pairs perfectly with crunchy edamame, lemony sorrel, mint topping freshly made wide hand-cut Italian noodles. Thin slices of red apple give a pleasant under tone of sweetness and visual appeal.

 

Tagliatelle hand-cut noodles made with Durham hard-winter-wheat

Shelled Edamame

Fresh Sorrel leaves

Fresh Mint leaves

Aged Havarti cheese, coarsely graded

Sweet European butter

Sea salt

Thinly Sliced red apple

Pinch of sugar

Red wine vinegar

Pine nuts

White pepper

 

Acidulate a cup of water, add a little salt and sugar to taste. Core and thinly slice apples lengthwise, store in the sweet acidulated water. 

Shelled Edamame and blanch in boiling water for one minute. Plunge in ice water to stop cooking, drain and pat dry. Chop mint and sorrel in a chiffonade. 

Boil a pound of fresh Tagliatelle noodles in salted water. Cook 2+ minutes until al dente. Drain most of the water, tossing pasta with ¼ pound of cold butter cut into patties for three minutes. Add white pepper and sea salt to correct seasoning. Add chiffonade, Edamame, Havarti cheese, pine nuts. Drain apple slices well. Toss noodles and serve.

 

Optional Items

Grated Romano or parmesan cheese for additional flavor

Italian Capers

Flecks of soaked softened sun dried tomatoes

 

Miso Mayonnaise - sushi/sashimi sauce

There are many versions of Miso but they generally fall into red, white, and Hatcho Miso ("emperor's miso" Aged 24-30 Months) with less water and salt content and made near Okazaki castle in Japan.
Red (Aka) miso is aged over a year the color of this miso changes gradually from white to red or even black.
White (Shiro) miso is the most popular miso and is made with rice, barley, and a small quantity of soybeans and has abbreviated fermentation. The taste is sweeter than red miso but has less umami.
Miso, when fresh, has a shelf life and will be found in the refrigerated section of the Asian market. This is not to say that it is not available dried or unrefrigerated.

Miso is showing up practically everywhere thanks in large part to the Asian-pacific rim cuisine but because it is so flavorful, marinades, sauces, pasta and soups of all sorts have leveraged it versatility. “The key to fine miso cookery is not to overpower dishes with a strong miso taste, but to integrate the more subtle aspects of miso color and flavor in a gentle balance with other ingredients.”

Create a savory Mayonnaise sushi/sashimi sauce combine to taste these simple ingredients.

1 1/2 cups of Best Foods Mayonnaise

1/4 cup of Awase miso (or 50-50 white and red miso)

2 Tablespoon of hon mirin (true mirin) (sake)

1 Teaspoon fish sauce

1 Teaspoon Seasoned rice wine vinegar

Notes:

1. A good source for miso is the  Gold Mine Natural Foods (http://shop.goldminenaturalfoods.com/South-River/products/32/)
2. Hon mirin (true mirin) not to be confused with Aji-Marin is a lot more expensive and has true umami flavor. Takara Marin is an example as is  12% alchol. All true Marin will have a similar alchol content.