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Ginger and Clam Soup (姜丝蛤蜊汤)
September 13th, 2010Recipes, 30-Minute Meals, Recipes, Chinese Recipes, Recipes, Recipes, Taiwanese Recipes35 Comments
I love soups of all sorts, especially Chinese soups. To the Chinese, soups are highly nourishing as each ingredient in the soup delivers a certain health (and beauty) benefit and promotes overall strengths to the body. Drinking soup is a huge part of the Chinese food culture, soup is often considered as “tonic” (補品).
There are endless variations of soups in Chinese cuisine as so many ingredients could be used—Chinese herbal (medicinal), meat-based (chicken, pork, beef, duck, bones, etc.), vegetables (fresh and dried), dried seafood (dried scallops, abalone, oysters, etc.), fresh seafood, the exotics (bird’s nest, shark’s fin, etc.), and the combination of all the ingredients above. The possibilities are endless, and most importantly, delicious, wholesome, healthy, and certainly much more than the regular egg drop soup and hot and sour soup…
One of the easiest soups that I always make at home is ginger and clam soup, or 姜丝蛤蜊汤. This soup is especially popular for the Taiwanese, and served at Taiwanese restaurants. It takes only a few ingredients and practically 15 minutes to prepare, but the end result is absolutely pleasing. According to my Chinese soups cookbook, ginger and clam soup is great for the liver and stimulates a healthy appetite.
(Click Page 2 for the Ginger and Clam Soup Recipe (姜丝蛤蜊汤))
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Yes, I always order this soup at Taiwanese restaurants. I didn’t know it’s so easy to make, now I can make this ginger and clam soup at home. Restaurant is about $10 for a small bowl!
If you cook everything yourself, you will spend less than $5 and you get a bunch of clams. :)
Good tips about the wine. I used to eat a lot of “this dish” in Taiwan. :)
Tiga – Taiwanese clams are different species though, I love clams anyway, regardless of the species.
When it’s a fresh catch of clams, it just need a simple way of cooking it ay. Me, i’ll add in some spring onions, and a teeny weeny drop of sesame oil.
Cheers.
Yeah you can but not necessary in my opinion because fresh clams are so good to begin with.
hi Bee, hope all is well, it’s been a while since i dropped by. i love this clam soup. had this in some of the local chinese restaurant in kl. simply tasty! all the best!
Hey you, I am good, thanks for the comment. Yes, I think this dish is quite common in KL area but not so much in Penang though. Clams are never cooked this way in Penang.
I love clams!!
Alot of times after i acquired them at the market, i could only think of kam heong la la and spaghetti vongole!
Thanks for the idea.. Now i have another option to pick from! :)
It’s so much easier to make this dish than kam heong and pasta. :)
That first photo definitely stimulate my healthy appetite. Now i just wish that delicious ginger and clams soup would materialize in front of me. Bee, if i close my eyes and wish it very hard it will appear, right?.. right? :)
Zen – this dish is so easy to make!! I wonder how you could add in a little fine dining and French touch to it and offer it to your private dining clients?!
Loved this dish. Will sure order this at restaurants that are good with this
Babe – the Malaysian species of lala are sweet and great for this dish!
This must be tasty! I love clams… Clams with anything will be just nice! And this is so easy to make!
I loooooove clams, too. And yes, it’s very tasty!!
This dish is highly popular in the Philippines too. We use either clams or mussels in this recipe…mmm….
It’s very interesting to know that this dish is popular in the Philippines. Do you think it’s because of the Chinese influence?
Bee – what can we substitute for rice wine? Would it be a huge deal to just omit it? I know the taste will be different but we don’t consume alcohol. It looks delish, I definitely want to try it.
You can skip the wine if you can’t consume rice wine.
what’s the difference of rice wine from shaoxing wine? how will i know what to use when cooking?
Read the Cook’s Note.
I love this dish!
Every year I go back to Taiwan, I will eat so much of it ( at home) until I can live without it for a while…
HI Rasa. First, I love the site! Simple and attractive at the same time. Second, I love soups (specially Japanese Ramen) and this Ginger and Clam soup is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
I need to get some clams! I ‘d love this.
OMG!! I found you! Thanks for the recipe!
This sounds so simple yet delicious! I have seen another version with miso paste, which I think would be a great addition as well to the clam soup.
Great recipe, easy to cook. I live near Pasar Borang Selangor and can get clams easily. Will try this recipe coming week.
love this soup, its so easy to make, i also add chopped garlic
I love this time of year- it’s the perfect soup weather! I recently made tortellini sausage soup, but your soup looks WAY better!
mmm.. clam soup… that looks great!
Is there a reason why not to use the Shaoxing wine?
You can use Shaoxing wine but the taste is better with rice wine.
Hi Bee, completely agree with your comments on the importance of Chinese soup. A few pork ribs, some jagung, Chinese herbs, and some winter melon, and I am all smiles…
My family loves clams but I always have difficulty removing the sandy bite from the clams itself.