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I haven’t been traveling for a while, well, not since my trips to China and Malaysia last June and Hawaii in last August.
I miss traveling a lot, mostly, I miss eating local foods and exploring local cooking styles. It’s amazing to me that even with the same ingredients, different places have their own signature ways of preparing the ingredients.
Even though Taiwan is not a huge tourist destination to most people, I love the place.
I had been to Taipei a few times, and one of the things that I love most about the city is the many “百元小炒” Chinese food establishments. 百元小炒 means NT$100 (about US$3.20) stir-fries, which basically are popular and very affordable dishes served at Chinese restaurants.
The restaurants that offer such specials are usually very humble in the appearance and set up—a shop house with a cashier counter, round tables and chairs, and a hot stir-fry kitchen (some visible and some don’t).
百元小炒 is a popular food culture in Taipei and the dishes are great for sharing with friends, late-night supper, and especially great with cold beer.
Whenever I go to Taipei, I would look out for restaurants that serve the NT$100 dishes. Unfortunately, in the recent years, they are harder to come by because foods are getting more expensive.
Regardless, this Taiwanese-style clams is a typical 百元小炒 dish that I love. Well, you know, I always love clams.
Stir-fried with the basic Chinese seasonings of oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, and infused with the spiciness of fresh red chilies, these clams retain the original briny sweet taste.
This type of stir-fry is very homey, but hard to find in Chinese restaurants in Malaysia or the US, but in Taiwan, this is one of the most popular ways of preparing clams.
While Taipei is a long flight away, you can try making this Taiwanese-style clams at the comfort of your home. And yes, wash them down with a glass of cold beer, if you like.
For more Taiwanese recipes—which I intend to grow on Rasa Malaysia—please click here.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 229 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Taiwanese-Style Clams
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. manila clams
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 in ginger (peeled and cut into thin strips)
- 1 1/2 fresh red chilies (seeded and sliced into pieces)
- 2 stalks scallion (cut into 2-inch lengths (5 cm))
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon rice wine
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
Instructions
- Clean and scrub the shell of the clams thoroughly. Rinse with cold water and drain.
- Heat up a wok and add the cooking oil. When the cooking oil is very hot, add garlic and ginger and stir-fry until aromatic, and then follow by the red chilies and do a few quick stirs. Add the clams into the wok and stir a few times and cover with the wok’s lid.
- When the clams start to open up, add all the seasonings into the wok. Cover the lid again until most clams are open. Add the chopped scallions into the wok, do a few quick stirs, dish out and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
So glad I stumbled upon your recipe! It was perfectly salty, sweet and herby – the “gravy” just went so well over white rice. My overly picky family loved it! Thank you!!!
Awesome!😊
I love all of your dishes, this one is equally as good. As an America living in Taiwan I would say the only thing really different that is included in all fried dishes here in Taiwan is the addition of fresh taiwanese basil fried as a whole stalk. It’s really delicious In this dish when served here
Thanks for letting me know!
I had some clams and didn’t feel like having it in miso soup for the 2nd day. Googled and found your recipe. So yummy!! Since I couldn’t find any fresh red chilli in Japan (around where I live at least), I put in a few drops of layu for the spicy effect. Passed the husband test. Will definitely try it again.
Yummy!
I made this recipe last night and it is absolutely delicious! I live in the UK but my mum is from Malaysia so this reminds me of some of the wonderful meals that I have had there over the years. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Jenny for trying my recipe!