Cooking Clams?

[Bucks&Ducks]

Some friends invited me to do some clam digging tomorrow and I have absolutly no idea what to do with them when they come home.

I am open to any ideas or recipies if you guys are willing to share.

Thanks in advance!

B&D

[Ddog]

first off you need to bring home a good bucket of clean salt water to let the clams sit in for at least 24 hours to get rid of the sand they may have trapped in them. i actually let them sit for closer to 36 hrs, nothing worse than crunching sand.
after that i use a steamer and just steam them until they are opened, usually just around 5 minutes or so, after that just scoop em out of their shell with a small three pronged fork and dip 'em in garlic butter and pop em in your mouth, mmmmmmm good stuff, after i eat my fill that way i make a real wicked clam chowder!,, yup
thats what i do

[Ozone]

bit of white wine when steaming is good also

[Bow Walker]

First ya gotta get the sand out of them. Lots of people advocate keeping them in a bucket of sea water for a few hours and every once in a while you rattle the bucket to make the clams spit out water (and sand). Then there are a ton of ways to cook the little delicacies.

If you're able to have the advantage of an open fire just put them on a flat surface near enough to the fire (let it burn down to a good bed of coals first) so that they pop open within a few minutes. Basically they are cooked when they pop open, but I like to add a teaspoon of BBQ sauce to the clam shell so that the clam simmers in the mixture of its own broth and the BBQ sauce. After 3 or 4 more minutes, consume eagerly.

Another way is to shuck the clams and cook the raw meat in a soup or a stir-fry, or simmer the meat in a pasta sauce until done.

Try pan frying the diced raw clam meat (in 50/50 olive oil and butter) with garlic, diced shallots, parsley, white wine, salt and pepper and then add in a good big dollop of cold butter and let it melt. Pour the whole mess over some freshly cooked spaghettini and serve with a big fresh salad and lots of crusty buns.

There are a lot of other recipes too. Google "fresh clams" and find some interesting recipes online.

[Bucks&Ducks]

Thanks for the replies!

We are having a family BBQ on Sunday so we will soak them in seawater till they are ready to cook and get rid of the sand.

Bow Walker, your idea about the open fire sounds good so i might set up a bonfire with a grill instead of BBQ to cook them over.

Ill let you guys know what we do and how they turn out

[MB_Boy]

We almost always eat clams when boating up north. As others have said.....they NEED to soak to let them get rid of the sand inside.

We usually keep it pretty simple......white wine, water, butter, garlic, pepper and some herbs in the broth.....and ensure you have a good crusty bread to go with it for dipping.

[pescado]

I sprinkle a good amount of Cornmeal in my bucket of water and let them sit for a while. Was told this helps to clean them and I think it works. They can sit for a day or if I want I eat them after only a few hours of sitting I do. I like boiling them till they open, than pick them out of the shell and dipp them in garlic butter. Good idea, I think I'll get some today.

[Shooter]

As with all shellfish I enjoy it very simple. Almost always just a simple steam and dip in Garlic butter. That goes for Prawns, Crab, Clams, etc. If you add to much you take away from the natural deliciousness lol.

However Oysters...... They are GREAT on a BBQ or open fire. When they pop open just throw a little Shirachi hot sauce and a little real parmesan cheese on top (the real stuff not the spaghetti shaker stuff) and just let them simmer a couple minutes till the cheese melts..... mmmmmm mmmmmm good.... maybe I will go get some this weekend just thinking about it..

[fearless]

sprinkle oatmeal over your clams while soaking in salt water this will help clean the sand out don't leave them in the bucket for more then 24 hrs with out changeing the water or the clam may die then they're no good.Clam fritters are a big hit in my house shuck and clean the clam grind up in grinder or food processer add 1/2 a cup of flour 2teaspoons of baking powder 1/2 teaspoon of salt & pepper 1 egg and 1 medium onion finely chopped and 2 cups of ground clams mix it up and fry like a pancake you'll have no regrets.

[huntinnewbie]

Nova Scotia style, steam them til their open and then dip them in melted butter and then malt vinegar and eat them, yum, yum!!

[Shooter]

Nova Scotia style, steam them til their open and then dip them in melted butter and then malt vinegar and eat them, yum, yum!!


Sounds like periwinkles.

[huntinnewbie]

Yup, ate buckets of Perriwinkles when I was a kid.
We would go hikink along the beaches and when we got hungry we'ld make a fire, gather perriwinkles. Fill an old metal pail with salt water and winkles and boil them. Find a little stick to pick the door off and pull them out and eat them.
Though we didn't have any condiments on those trips.:)

[Hunter22]

Hey Every one on the tolpic of Clams. Where do you go to get them.

I live in Langley and couldn't seem to find any along WhiteRock. WAs I just in the wrong place.

What about the red tide, where do you go to get up today information?

[mjmbc]

i dont think your allowed to get clams in whiterock cresent beach twassen as the area is a constant red tide from all the outflow from the fraser and what not check the salt water regs you do need a saltchuck license aswell unless theve changed it

[MB_Boy]

Hey Every one on the tolpic of Clams. Where do you go to get them.

I live in Langley and couldn't seem to find any along WhiteRock. WAs I just in the wrong place.

What about the red tide, where do you go to get up today information?

I would think there should be some buried in the sand down there somewhere. As for "red tide"....best is to check the DFO notices section on their website.

[Salty]

The best way to get the sand out is to put them in a fine mesh sack and suspend them in the water if you can. Over the side of your boat if your anchored, off the dock if the water's clean, or even anchor a scotsman and hang them off of that. A day usually does it. Be wary of red tide which will show up as soon as we get hot days any day now. The old adage of only eat them in months with an R in them. September October etc. is one to keep in mind. ..

For smaller clams like littlenecks I usually steam them in an inch of water in a big pot with liberal amounts of lemon and Frank's hot sauce drizzled on the clams. Remove as soon as they open. Chuck any that don't.