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.

White fish soup

I had the inspiration for this soup from making Japanese "nabe" (a dish cooked in an earthen-ware dish on the table). Nabe are almost always water based, but white fish goes well with milk, especially for people who don't like a fishy smell. Soy milk can be substituted for milk.

1. Put 2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil in a pan. Turn on the gas to low-medium heat. (Point: oil olive burns easily so don't make it too hot. You can use other oil like canola, but olive oil is healthier.)
2. Add two cloves of chopped or crushed garlic.
3. Add one half of an onion, thinly sliced.
4. While the garlic and onion are frying on LOW HEAT, do the next steps. You should stir the pan sometimes.
5. Slice some potatoes very thinly. (About 2mm, with a hand-held slicer). Add the potatoes to the oil and mix. Be careful not to break the slices.
6. Cut the ends off some green beans and cut them into 3cm pieces. Add to the pan and toss in the oil.
7. Add half of a very thinly sliced carrot. (Again I use the slicer.)
8. Add about a 5mm slice of butter. This is to give extra depth and fragrance to the soup. To cut calories, skip this step.
9. Add some milk a little at a time while mixing, about 700ml in total. DO NOT BOIL IT!!!
10. Add two fillets of white fish. I like cod (tara) and I rinse the fillets under water first. Cook on a low heat for a few minutes until the fish becomes white. DO NOT BOIL!

The total time from start to finish is less than 15 minutes because I prepare the next thing while the first things are cooking.
This is delicious served with a simple green salad. You can use salmon fillets for variation or add a pinch of curry powder to the cod soup. It is also nice the next day for breakfast! If you make it thick like stew, using a roux, you can change it into gratin by putting it in a baking dish, adding cheese to the top and baking. Or put the stew on top of toast, add some cheese and bake it.