- 1 or 2 shucked and chopped cherrystone clams, with juice (optional)
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup slightly warm Basic Asian Chicken Soup
- ½ to 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- Green and white portions of 1 small scallion, finely minced
- If you are using clams, put pieces and juice in the bottom of the soup bowl. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg with a fork until it is thin and frothy. Add chicken soup and soy sauce and beat again until frothy. Pour over clam in bowl, filling bowl to about ½ inch from the rim.
- Place bowl, uncovered, in a Chinese bamboo steamer set over a wok half full of boiling water, or on a pierced metal vegetable steamer over boiling water. If you have neither, set bowl in a saucepan and add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover steamer or saucepan and steam for 6 to 8 minutes, or until egg sets in a creamy cap. (The steamer results in an airier custard.) Sprinkle with scallions and serve immediately.
- If you prepare more than 1 bowl at a time, allow a little more time for steaming.