Ginger Clam and Winter Melon Soup
冬瓜蛤蜊湯·(dōngguā gélí tāng)
家常菜 (Jiācháng Cài) - Meals Mom Cooked (The Weeknight Family Table)
Put the carton of chicken stock back in the fridge. Set a two-pound wedge of waxy winter melon on the cutting board beside a bowl of salted water where Manila clams are spitting grit. The broth comes entirely from the briny liquor released as those shells pop open in the simmering pot—muddying it with bouillon is a misdemeanor. By slicing the winter melon thin rather than into restaurant-style blocks, it melts into translucent sponges in minutes. And by steeping the matchstick-thin julienne of old ginger and a splash of Michiu directly in the serving bowl rather than boiling them to death, you get a head-clearing aroma the second the hot broth hits the porcelain. Skim the foam once, cut the heat, and ladle it over the ginger while it still bites.
Before you start
Purge the clams in salted water for 2 hours before cooking.
Dissolve 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in 4 cups of cold water to mimic the ocean. Submerge the clams, cover the bowl with a dish towel so they think it's nighttime, and let them spit out their grit in a cool corner of the kitchen. Drain and rinse well.
Stage the ginger matchsticks and rice wine directly in the bottom of a large, heatproof serving bowl.
Boiling ginger destroys its high notes and dulls the delicate sweetness of the clams; steeping it in the bowl is Chef A-Ji's classic Taiwan kitchen hack.
Ingredients
- live Manila or littleneck clams1 lb
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- winter melon1 lb
- fresh ginger1 oz
- Taiwanese Michiu rice wine2 tbsp
- filtered water4 cup
Method
- 01
Bring 4 cups of filtered water to a rolling boil in a medium pot over high heat, then drop in the winter melon.
Reduce the heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the opaque white slices turn translucent and tender.
- 02
Add the purged clams to the pot and cover immediately with a tight-fitting lid.
Don't walk away. Stand right at the stove and listen/watch for the shells to pop open, which takes about 2 to 3 minutes.
- 03
Kill the heat the exact second the majority of the clams pop wide open.
Leaving them on the burner a minute longer turns sweet, plump shellfish into chewy rubber bands. Fish out and discard any stubbornly closed duds.
- 04
Pour the boiling soup, clams, and melon directly into your waiting serving bowl over the raw ginger and wine.
The radiant heat instantly takes the raw edge off the ginger and volatilizes the alcohol into a fragrant cloud. Give it a gentle stir, taste the broth, and add a pinch of salt only if the clams didn't bring enough of the ocean with them.
Notes
Skip the sesame oil.
While a drizzle of sesame oil is standard in many Taiwanese soups, purists and grandmothers keep it far away from clam broth; if a single clam is even slightly past its prime, the oil reacts with the protein to create a funky, metallic smell.
Suburban supermarket swaps.
Asian markets sell winter melon in convenient, plastic-wrapped wedges. If you can't make the trip, peeled chayote squash, medium zucchini, or even the firm white rind of a watermelon will mimic that crucial, broth-soaking texture. Dry sake or dry sherry can stand in for the Michiu.