Clams with XO Sauce, Spring Onions and Coriander

by Rick Stein and Jill Stein, featured in The Seafood Restaurant Cookbook

Published by Jon Croft Editions

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Introduction

When Jack was working in Sydney, he used to go to a restaurant in China Town called Golden Century and they would do XO clams with pipis, a type of shellfish. This is the version he brought home, and this XO sauce works really well with European clams. It’s a complicated sauce with lots of chilli and dried seafood, but it is so moreish.

As featured in

The Seafood Restaurant Cookbook

Image of Rick Stein and Jill Stein's Clams with XO Sauce — Photo by Sam A Harris

Ingredients

Serves: 4 as a first course

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
30 grams fresh ginger (grated or chopped)
20 grams garlic (grated or chopped)
1 red chilli (thinly sliced, remove the seeds for less heat)
2 teaspoons fermented black beans (chopped)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons XO sauce (I like Lee Kum Kee)
1½ kilograms fresh clams or pipis (washed in cold water)
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour (slackened with a little water)
6 spring onions (sliced)
1 handful fresh coriander (roughly chopped)

Method

Clams with XO Sauce, Spring Onions and Coriander is a guest recipe by Rick Stein and Jill Stein so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe

Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, black beans, sugar and XO sauce and sauté for 1–2 minutes to soften.
Add the clams, Shaoxing wine and soy sauce, cover the wok with a lid and cook over a high heat for 2 minutes, shaking the pan a couple of times, until the clams are cooked through. Check to see the clams are opened (discard any that aren’t), then stir in enough of the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce to coat the back of a spoon.
Add the spring onions and coriander, toss a few times and serve.

Jack’s Chef Notes:
Making XO sauce from scratch is quite an involved and lengthy process, but happily you can buy it ready-made from Asian supermarkets, or online. Choose the best quality you can find.

Charlie’s Wine Notes:
XO sauce, with its many full flavours, is, without doubt, a wine-killer. So, I’d go for a wheat beer here instead.