Bloggingforfood's Blog

I thought I’d start a new category here on BFF called “BBF”, which stands for Brat Boy Favorites. Brat Boy is an endearing nickname for my wonderful boyfriend, Calvin. In return, you’ll often hear him call me Brat Girl. We even have our own brat boy/girl theme song, but this is not personal blog so I’ll spare you all the mushy details.

I gather inspiration for cooking from a variety of sources, one of those being Calvin and I’m always trying to perfect those dishes that he calls his favorites. After a somewhat failed attempt at making clams with black bean sauce for Lunar New Year, I really wanted to attempt to make it again. I say “somewhat failed attempt” because although the overall taste of the clam dish I made for Lunar New Year was good, it wasn’t a true black bean sauce. It was more of a black bean soup. hah..

So this time around, instead of following a recipe I found off of the internet, I thought more about the dish and how it is served at restaurants and how to make a thick, flavorful sauce that would coat the clams and not have them swimming in broth. A mixture of Shaoxing rice wine, preserved black beans, corn starch, soy sauce, chicken stock, garlic and sugar make the perfect combination. I boiled the clams in water to open them up then threw them into the simmering sauce and tossed well to coat. Remember to sauteed the bell peppers and onions for 2-3 minutes before throwing in clams.

For our veggie side dish, I made another one of Calvin’s favorites, Ong Choy with shrimp paste. Saute garlic and shrimp paste with a little chicken stock, toss in ong choy, remembering to toss the greens often to cook evenly and prevent one side from wilting too quickly. Cook 8-10 minutes.