le lapin gris

I wasn’t feeling very well yesterday, so decided to treat myself to some quality soup.  This is a healthy, delicious soup that turned out to cost me about $5, when the restaurant version would be $12+.

Ingredients:

• 8-10 littleneck clams (with shell)
• one box of silken tofu
• cooking wine (either Chinese or white)
• 2 stems scallions
• ginger
• soy sauce
• crushed red pepper (optional)

I recommend using fresh clams.  First let them sit in a bowl of salt water - I think this encourages them to spit out salt.  After 10 minutes, place the clams, a few slices of ginger, and 4 Tbsp of cooking wine into a pot.  Cover with water.  Once it boils, your clams should start opening up.  Add a dash of crushed red pepper for a little kick.  Put tofu in along with scallions and salt.  Add a Tbsp of soy sauce.  After boiling, let simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Adjust with more salt as needed.  Keep in mind that clams live in salt water and have some sodium content on their own.  Be modest when adding salt.

I think this simple soup really helps bring out the delicious taste of fresh clams.  The longer you let your soup simmer, the more the tofu is able to absorb that “whiff of the sea” flavor.

I had this with rice and a bit of Westmalle trappist beer (brewed in a monastery in Belgium).  Really hit the spot!

Photo courtesy of mgtelu (Flickr)