Stir-fried razor clams with black beans and chilli

Ingredients

8 large or 12 small razor clams
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
2 tsp Chinese salted fermented black beans
a good pinch of caster sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1cm/½ inch ginger, peeled and finely chopped
½ medium hot red Dutch chilli, thinly sliced
1 tsp dark soy sauce
8 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal

Method

1. If they are sandy, wash the clams in plenty of cold water and drain well. Get a large sauté pan or frying pan hot over a high heat. Add the clams and the Chinese rice wine, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes until the clams have just opened. Remove the clams from the pan and discard the cooking juices. Remove the meats from the shells and cut each one on the diagonal into 3 or 4 pieces. Discard all but 4 of the shells.
2. Put the black beans onto a board, sprinkle over the sugar and coarsely chop. Heat the sunflower and sesame oil in the pan, add the black beans, garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 20 seconds. Return the clam meat to the pan with the chilli and stir-fry for 1 minute to colour the meats nicely. Add the soy sauce and most of the spring onions and toss together briefly.
3. To serve, put 2 of the clam shells onto each warmed plate and spoon the stir-fried meats on top. Sprinkle with the remaining spring onions and serve with some steamed rice if you wish.