1. Buy clams. My morning market has a ton of clam vendors so finding clams is easy. However, deciding on WHICH type of clam to buy is a challenge because there are so many options. In the U.S. you primarily see Manila and razor clams but Taiwan has a bounty of bivalves. I basically settled on the first clams I saw squirting water and the vendor with the widest smile. 100NT for a large bag of clams...maybe about a pound of clams. The other cool thing is that when you buy groceries here in Taiwan, vendors will often throw in some freebies like cilantro, green onions or, in this case, some basil leaves. Wonderfully thoughtful. She also gave me her advice on how to cook the clams: basil, chili, a touch of soy, water but no garlic. Yes ma'am!
2. How to cook the clams? Well, this was easy, stir-fry. How do I flavor them? I used a combination of what I had on hand (Chinese celery) and what I have seen at local restaurants (chili, basil and Chinese BBQ sauce) along with the seafood vendor's recommendation.
3. Cook clams. Easy. Clams have little built in timers. When they pop open, they are done!
Anyhow, some pictures:
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