Stir Fry Clams with Basil, Ginger, Scallions

If you love seafood, this stir fry clams recipe is a must-try! It's one of my favorite ways to enjoy clams-quick, light, and super flavorful. We keep the sauce minimal so the natural taste of the clams shines through, and enhance everything with Thai basil, fresh ginger, and scallions. Perfect with a bowl of hot rice!

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• About the Ingredients
• How to make Stir Fry Clams with Basil, Ginger, Scallions
• Stir Fry Clams with Basil, Scallions and Ginger
• More Delicious Seafood Recipes
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About the Ingredients

Here's some information and tips on some of the main ingredients we are using:

Clams

Fresh, live clams are the best! Be sure to cook them within 1-2 days of purchase.
To clean clams:

• Scrub the shells under cold running water.
• Soak them in salted water for 20 minutes to 2 hours to purge sand.

How to tell if clams are cooked?
They'll open up when done! If a few stay closed, discard them-those might be bad. Occasionally, a stubborn clam won't open even though it's cooked; this is usually due to a tight hinge, not spoilage, but better safe than sorry.

Thai Basil

Unsurprisingly, this recipe calls for Thai Basil, and that is the recommended type of basil to use for this dish. However, if you can't find any Thai Basil, you can use other types of basil.

A popular basil substitute for Thai basil is the Italian basil. This will give you the most similar basil flavor.

Ginger

Ginger is a tasty and healthy ingredient! It contains lots of antioxidants and may help your body fight off high blood pressure, heart disease, and diseases of the lungs, plus promote healthy aging.

I do recommend using fresh ginger, and not ground ginger - it would take away too much of the flavor in my opinion.

We are going to peel and cut the ginger in to thin strips in this recipe, also called julienne.

To do so you will first want to remove the outer skin/peel - you can do this with a paring knife and just either scraping or cutting off the skin. Then, slice ginger thinly lengthwise. Stack the slices and then cut in to thin strips.

Scallions (Green Onions)

Scallions (or aka green onions) is great way to flavor your food. It's healthy too! One cup of scallions contains twice the daily recommended amount for adults of vitamin K and about 25% of your daily value for vitamin C!

We are going to cut our scallions in to 1 inch length for this recipe.

How to make Stir Fry Clams with Basil, Ginger, Scallions

First gather your ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 1 lb clams, cleaned
• 1 stalk green onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ½ cup rice wine (Taiwanese michiu preferred)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 bunch Thai basil (remove tough stems)

Heat oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and stir fry until aromatic.

Add clams and green onions. Stir to combine.

Pour in rice wine and give everything a quick stir.

As clams start to open, drizzle in soy sauce.

Once most of the clams are open, toss in the Thai basil. Stir just until wilted (it doesn't take long!)

Remove from heat and serve immediately. Enjoy with steamed rice or by itself!

More Delicious Seafood Recipes

If you like this seafood dish, here are a few more tasty recipes you might like:

• Seafood Fried Rice - A mix of shrimp, fish, and veggies stir-fried with rice for a quick and hearty meal.
• Seafood Stir Fry with Shrimp and Squid - A Chinese-style stir fry with tender shrimp and squid, cooked quickly with ginger, onion, and scallions for fresh, light flavor.
• Squid Stir Fry with Ginger and Green Onions - Clean flavors, tender squid, and lots of gingery goodness in just 10 minutes.
• Shrimp and Onion Stir Fry - Plump shrimp and sweet onions stir-fried together simply with just a touch of seasoning. A household favorite that's quick and delicious!

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