Simple and incredibly delicious. If you prefer a thick sauce, like that served at many Chinese restaurants, add cornstarch (as directed) at the end of cooking; it’s by no means necessary, however. Use the smallest clams you can find, preferably just an inch or so in diameter. Cockles, which are even smaller, are often the best choice; manila clams (which are brown) are also good. Serve this dish with Basic Long-Grain Rice (page 506).

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　4 pounds littleneck, cherrystone, or manila clams or cockles

　　2 tablespoons fermented black beans (page 207)

　　2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

　　3 tablespoons corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil

　　2 tablespoons minced garlic

　　2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger

　　1 tablespoon soy sauce

　　1 teaspoon sugar

　　2 scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped

　　2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water, optional

　　2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

　　

Step 1

Use a stiff brush to scrub the clam shells under running water to remove all traces of sand. Rinse the black beans in a strainer and soak them in the wine.

　　

Step 2

Place a wok or heavy skillet over high heat. A minute later, add the oil and reduce the heat to medium-high. When the oil shimmers, add the garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring, for about 15 seconds, then raise the heat to high and add the clams. Stir for a minute, then stir in the black bean/sherry mixture, soy sauce, sugar, and scallions. Cover, then cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until most of the clams are open. (Any clams that do not open during cooking can be opened with a dull knife at the table.)

　　

Step 3

Reduce the heat to low. If you choose to use the cornstarch mixture, stir and add it to the clams; cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and smooth, about 15 seconds. Drizzle with the sesame oil and serve, with the sauce, over white rice.

　　

Spicy Stir-Fried Clams with Black Bean Sauce

Step 4

Add 2 to 4 dried red chiles (with their seeds if you want the dish extra-hot) to the stir-fry as you are adding the garlic and ginger.

　　

Stir-Fried Crabs in Black Bean Sauce

Step 5

Start with 4 blue or softshell crabs, cleaned and cut up as directed on page 225; they will cook a little more quickly than the clams.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.