The Best Things We Ate This Week

"Dish: Sautéed clams with pepper and black bean sauce At this casual Cantonese spot in Chinatown, every table is filled with a spread of dishes from the ocean. There are wiggly tofu hunks topped with fish cake, salt and pepper prawns, and steamed fish buried under a pile of bean sprouts. The showstopper is the clams with pepper and black bean sauce. More gravy-like, the sauce is thicker than a down quilt, and the right touch of sweetness balances out the brininess of the clams. Using rice to eat up any leftover sauce is always a good idea. But we prefer to just slurp it back by the spoonful. " - julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez