Geung Chung Jing Hin

　　Editor's note: This recipe is reprinted from My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.

　　Clams are the fruit of the sea that represent prosperity and are, to be sure, permissible to be eaten by observant Buddhists, including nuns.

Ingredients

Sauce

　　3 tablespoons scallions, finely sliced

　　1 tablespoon light soy sauce

　　1 1/2 tablespoons Shao-Hsing wine, or sherry

　　1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

　　1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese white rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar

　　1 tablespoon scallion oil (see Note, below)

　　3 tablespoons vegetable stock

　　Pinch white pepper

　　12 clams, medium, opened on the half-shell by a fishmonger

　　8 cups boiling water

　　6 sprigs coriander

　　Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl. Place clams in a steamproof dish. Stir sauce, pour over clams. Place dish on a rack in a wok over 6 cups boiling water, cover and steam, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Do not oversteam, or clams will become tough. Turn off heat and remove dish from steamer. Garnish with coriander and serve immediately.

　　Note:

　　To make scallion oil: Trim, clean, and dry 3 to 4 bunches of scallions (1 pound), then cut each scallion into 2-inch pieces and lightly smash the white portions. Heat wok over high heat for 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups peanut oil and scallions. Stir and mix well, making certain scallions are immersed in oil. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer the oil and scallions for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until scallions brown. Turn off heat, strain through a fine strainer into a bowl and cool to room temperature. Pour into a glass jar, cover and refrigerate until needed. This recipe makes 1 1/4 cups, but the oil keeps for three months refrigerated.

　　From My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, (C) © 2006 By arrangement with Home Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA)