Spicy Stir-fried Clams

Spicy stir-fried clams is a Qingdao home-style seafood dish made from the local clams known as 'gala', quickly tossed over high heat with scallion, ginger, garlic and chilli for a fresh, spicy kick.

The waters around Qingdao yield abundant clams, which are cheap, plentiful year-round, and the spicy stir-fry method brings out their freshness—making the dish a fixture of local food stalls and home tables.

It is Qingdao's classic beer snack, typically enjoyed with chilled Tsingtao beer—sucking the clams from their shells between sips—a signature scene of summer-night street stalls.

The clam meat is plump and tender, soaked in the aroma of chilli, scallion and garlic—fresh, spicy and moreish—capturing better than anything Qingdao's street-level pairing of beer and seafood.