There’s something sultry about this dish. It’s earthy, aromatic, salty, slippery and a bit a spicy. Don’t confuse Chinese black beans with Mexican black beans. Chinese black beans are also known as fermented or salted black beans and are made from fermented soy beans. They are pungent and quite strong so it’s important to soak and rinse them for a bit before cooking. You can find Chinese black beans at Chinese and other Asian markets. Fermented black beans are usually paired with garlic, ginger and chilies because they are so strong in flavor and marry well with these bold aromatics. If you don’t have fermented black beans feel free to substitute with store-bought black bean sauce. Just add the same about of sauce when you’d normally add the soaked and rinsed fermented black beans. You can buy black bean sauce in the gourmet section at Cost Plus World Market.
2 tablespoons fermented black beans
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
36 clams
3 cups cold water
3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons canola oil
6 dried red chilies or chili de arbor
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 green onion, white and green parts, finely chopped
