What it is
Clam noodles (蛤蜊麵, also written 蛤仔麵 after the Taiwanese word for clam) are noodles in a soup built on fresh clams, which go into the bowl as well. The clams give the broth a gentle, sweet sea flavour. Versions run from plain stall bowls with egg noodles to a soy-milk soup at a Tainan noodle bar.
Where it came from
No source records who first made clam noodles, but clams are easy to come by in Taiwan. Hard clams (文蛤) are farmed mainly in Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan, with Changhua and Yunlin the largest producers. Fisheries researchers developed a way to breed them artificially around 1980 and passed it on to farmers, and hard clams went on to overtake oysters as Taiwan's leading farmed shellfish.
In Changhua City, loading noodle broth with clams became a mark of local noodle stalls. A-Tian Clam Noodles (阿添蛤仔麵), more than 30 years old by 2018, is said to be the first.
How it is made
Stall versions start with pork-bone stock and plenty of fresh clams. A-Tian in Changhua uses plump clams from nearby Lukang and adds pork pieces fried slowly with shallots, dried flatfish (扁魚) and rock sugar, which give the soup a bacon-like note. Its noodles contain extra egg for a chewier bite. Jai Mi Ba (吃麵吧) in Tainan bases its broth on chicken stock with soy milk and adds clams.
How to eat it
At A-Tian, customers can add house-made shrimp or pork balls, and the menu also has sausage and chicken rolls. Jai Mi Ba opens for lunch and dinner, its short menu changes weekly, and Michelin suggests finishing with the caramel cheese pudding.
Around Taiwan
- Tainan
- Jai Mi Ba (吃麵吧), a Bib Gourmand noodle bar, serves clams in a noodle soup of chicken stock and soy milk, which Michelin inspectors describe as creamy and briny-sweet. The menu changes weekly.
- Central
- Clam broth is a mark of Changhua City's noodle stalls. Other local soups, such as cat-mouse noodles (貓鼠麵), also add fresh clams for flavour.
