Asari Clams Steamed in White Wine

The Dish blends we recommend for this recipe. Dish Symphony No.1 Dish Symphony No.2 (our pick)

This is SHOPPI from the Inspice kitchen team. I have lost count of how many times I have made this one; it is a fixture whenever we have people round.

You eat the clams together with the sauce they have flavoured, using the shells themselves as spoons. It is superb.

Eat the clams steamed in white wine just as they are, or toss them with pasta and turn them into vongole bianco, or add coriander and soy sauce for an oriental plate. Learn the method once and you can enjoy it in a number of ways.

As for how Dish is used here: sprinkle a pinch of Symphony No.1 or No.2 over it at the very end. It draws the flavour of the seafood together and the result is a fragrant, generous dish.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• Asari clams (Japanese littleneck clams): 300g
• Garlic: 1 clove
• Cherry tomatoes: 6
• White wine: 80ml
• Olive oil: 3 tbsp
• Dish: as needed (Symphony No.1 or No.2)
• Parsley: as needed (optional)

Preparation

• Slice 1 clove of garlic.
• Cut the 6 cherry tomatoes in half.
• Preparing the clams

1. Make a brine of 1 tbsp of salt to 500ml of water, submerge the clams in it, and leave them somewhere dark (cover the bowl or tray with newspaper) for at least 2 hours so they purge their sand.
2. Tip the purged clams into a colander and wash them thoroughly under running water, rubbing the shells against each other. Discard any that are cracked.
3. Leave them in the colander for about 30 minutes.
   

   The salt the clams take up at this stage becomes the seasoning of the finished dish, so measuring the brine accurately matters. Washing the shells properly keeps any muddy flavour out of the finished dish. Leaving them for 30 minutes at the end deepens the savoury flavour of the clams.

Method

1. Take a frying pan with a lid, add 3 tbsp of olive oil and the sliced garlic, and set it over low heat.
   
   

   Take your time over a low heat so the garlic aroma passes into the olive oil.

2. When the garlic starts to smell good, add the clams, turn the heat to high, and stir them for about 20 seconds, counting as you go.
   
   
3. Add the halved cherry tomatoes, pour in 80ml of white wine, put the lid on and steam for 1 minute 30 seconds.
   
   
4. After 1 minute 30 seconds, turn the heat to low and steam for a further 3 minutes.
   
   
5. Take off the lid, crush the cherry tomatoes and work them through the sauce, then sprinkle a pinch of Dish over everything.
   
   

   If any clams have not opened by this point, the dish tastes better if you remove them. If that feels wasteful, move them to the centre of the pan and cook them over medium heat and they will eventually open. Be careful not to overcook everything, though: the clams shrink and lose the plump texture you are after. If you want the oriental version with coriander and soy sauce, add them when you crush the cherry tomatoes and work them through. About 1/2 tsp of soy sauce is a good guide.

6. That is it, ready to serve.

A topping of finely chopped parsley is good too.

How to turn it into vongole bianco

1. Cook the pasta in brine made with 1 tbsp of salt to 2L of water.
2. Partway through cooking, add two ladles of the pasta water to the frying pan of clams steamed in white wine and stir it into the cooking liquid to make a sauce.
3. Add the pasta, toss it through and serve.