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Madame Chu's Clams in Black Bean Sauce

5.0(40)

Grace Zia Chu was a gym teacher in China; in 1950's America, she became Madame Chu, a well-known Chinese-cooking expert whose Manhattan cooking classes and cookbooks initiated a whole generation of Americans in the mysteries of the stir-fry. This recipe, for a classic coastal meal of clams in black bean sauce, is an adaptation of one she wrote for "Madame Chu's Chinese Cooking School," published in 1975: very, very simple, and exceedingly delicious.

by Gish Jen

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ChineseDinner, Project, Main Course

Servings

4 servings

Total time

1h 30m

Calories / serving

417 kcal

Ingredients (9)

serves

18 to 20 littleneck clams (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2 cups liquid, preferably the juice of the clams
1 tablespoon vegetable oilvegetable-oil
4 thin slices fresh gingerginger
2 cloves garlic, crushedgarlic
2 tablespoons crushed fermented black beans (see Tips, below)
2 tablespoons oyster sauceoyster-sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons waterwater
2 tablespoons chopped scallion, green partscallion

Instructions (4 steps)

01Wash and clean clams. Soak in water for about 1 hour, then drain. Heat 2 quarts of water to a boil and add half the clams. As soon as each opens, remove it; then add the remaining clams and repeat the process. Pour cooking liquid into a container and let sand settle to the bottom. Measure out 2 cups of liquid for making sauce.
02Heat oil in a saucepan. Add ginger, garlic and fermented beans. Let them sizzle in the oil for a minute. Add 2 cups clam liquid. Let it boil for 2 minutes. Discard ginger and garlic.
03

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