Asari clam soup

I love clam soup and it is so easy to make ...

1. Buy some asari clams and put them in fresh water for a few hours.
2. Put some water in a pot and add a piece of konbu (kelp) at the same time as you do the clams.
3. Put the pot on low heat and slowly bring the water to just under a boil. Take out the konbu.
4. Allow the water to cool for 5 minutes.
5. Put the clams in and bring back to a simmer. (Clams taste better if they slowly get hot!)
6. Simmer the clams (not boil) until they pop open. You can take the first popped ones out, and put them back later. Don't overcook them.
7. When they are all popped open, throw away any closed ones - they are dead.


NOTES:
1. You need to put them in fresh water so they spit out the dirty water and any sand. I try to buy clams that are packed in water.
2. Putting the konbu in the water lets it infuse slowly.
3. Don't boil the konbu in the water or some bitterness will appear.
5. It seems that if you suddenly cook the clams, they become tough.
6. This is troublesome, but taking out the first ones, means they don't overcook.
7. Hmm, it is hard to know if they are dead or just taking a long time to open, but if all the others are open and just one or two are not, throw them away.

I like to cook clams in my stainless steel fry pan, which I don't use for frying now. It has a large bottom so all the clams can cook at the same time.

You can season this soup with sake or soy sauce, but I just like plain soup. Sometimes I put it on top of other vegetables, for example, steamed carrots and Chinese cabbage.