Sake-Steamed Clams made in 10 minutes with just 5 ingredients! Sake brings out amazing flavors from the clams; simplicity at its best!
Today I want to share a popular recipe at Izakaya-style Japanese restaurants, and that is Sake-Steamed Clams, or Asari no Sakamushi (あさりの酒蒸し). It’s super easy and simple with just five ingredients, and you can cook it in 10 minutes!
If you are familiar with Japanese cuisine, you probably know that we rarely use chili peppers as an ingredient. However this dish requires a bit of chili pepper. If you like your food to be spicy, you can definitely add more.
There are many other ways to make sake-steamed clams, such as adding a little bit of butter at the end. This is a wonderful appetizer for a party especially because you can start preparing it after the guests arrive.
The Key for Delicious Sake-Steamed Clams
If you use fresh clams, don’t forget to de-grit (let the clams purge sand and grit) before you cook. I recommend doing this even though the package or fish mongers say “ready to use”. I often taste sand/grit in them, and you don’t want to experience that while eating your delicious clams. You can see my tutorial here.
I hope you enjoyed this Japanese Sake Steamed Clams! If you make this recipe, snap a picture and hashtag it #JustOneCookbook. I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter! Thank you so much for reading and trying the recipes!
Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for the FREE Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
- ¾ cup sake
- 1 Tbsp ginger (julienned)
- 1.5 lbs Manila Clams/Littleneck Clams (de-grited, see Notes)
- 1 dried red chili pepper
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 green onion/scallion (chopped)
- In a large frying pan, add the sake and ginger and bring it to a boil.
- Add the clams and a red chili pepper. Place the lid and steam on high heat for a few minutes until all the clams open.
- Remove the lid and add freshly ground black pepper and green onion. Shake the pan to make sure the clams are not over-lapping each other.
- Serve with the soup and eat while warm.
Manila Clams/Littleneck Clams: How to de-grit, click here.
Prep Time: De-gritting time (1 to 4 hours) is NOT included in prep time.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Hi Nami.. I tried to cook clam for the first time (by looking at your recipe as well as how to de grit and de salt the clams).. You’re awesome!!!!!! This recipe is sooooooo delicious.. I used fruity white wine instead of sake (as i dont have one) and add more chillies to the recipe.. Thanks for sharing the recipe Nami! 🙂
Hi Devie! Yay! I’m so glad you liked it. If you enjoy eating clams, try Clam Pasta! That’s our quick and easy week night meal (of course we still need to degrit though…). Thank you so much for trying the recipe. So happy you liked it! p.s. If you used white wine, you can drop 1 tbsp. butter at the end, which adds extra flavor… really delicious! 🙂
Hi, Nami. Will have to buy some clams tomorrow!!!! Maybe I’ll do some mussels with it, too. My mother always loved spicy food despite being Japanese. So did my father and as kids, we embraced it! Hope you had a nice holiday season.
~Chieko
Hi Chieko! Hope you enjoy(ed) this recipe! Yes, mussels work too. 🙂 Most Japanese restaurants do not offer spicy food because there are not too many people who can tolerate spice. Your parents are very cool!!!
My mother used to make a sinus-clearing kare-raisu. She would brown flour and S&B curry powder in the skillet then add hot pepper, white pepper, etc. That was one of my favorites when I was a kid. Great food for when it was winter! Sad news…the last surviving brother of my mom (who passed in 2000) passed away this month. She was the second oldest and her older brother died very young. At least I stay in contact with two of my younger cousins on FB. Eventually, there won’t be any contact unless my nephews in the US decide to reach out to their second cousins in Japan. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much interest. Sad to be separated by distance.
Hi Chieko! I know, it’s very hard. Even within Japan, when you live in the city, relatives don’t contact too often, and you only see them at funerals… Houses are smaller and it’s impossible to host a gathering or to have a place to fit everyone… it’s a funny reason we can’t get together if you live in the city (I think it’s more common to get together with relatives if you live in the countryside). We have to do our best to stay in touch with family and relatives in a regular basis. Something I need to work on too.