One of the perks of living in the Pacific Northwest is the plethora of fresh fish and seafood that’s available. Our regular grocery stores have tanks and iced displays of locally-grown clams, oysters, mussels, and Dungeness crabs. Mussels and manila clams are reasonably priced and make quick and tasty meals.
We have two go-to recipes for clams. The first is the traditional Italian linguine with white clam sauce. The second is Chinese clams in black bean sauce. We first had this dish at a restaurant in Seattle’s International District, the late lamented Hing Loon. We tried for years to replicate Hing Loon’s recipe before finding a close facsimile in Stewart Chang Berman’s book, The Potsticker Chronicles.
A few bits of friendly advice about cooking clams:
- Clams sold out of tanks are more likely to be alive than those sitting on ice. A further advantage to buying clams from salt-water tanks: They’re relatively clean and don’t need the sand-purging treatment some recipes call for.
- Discard any yawners, those that don’t clam up (close) when you tap them. They’re dead on arrival.
- Clams, especially our local Manila variety, cook quickly. Get all of your ingredients chopped and at the ready before you inspect and rinse the clams. It’s also a good idea to set the table before cooking. Put a large bowl on the table to collect empty shells. Provide plenty of napkins or paper towels.
- Often you’ll get clams of widely differing sizes. It will take the bigger clams more time to cook. Be patient. If a Manila clam doesn’t open after about 8 minutes, it’s dead and shouldn’t be eaten. For the larger littlenecks, allow about 10 minutes for larger ones to open.
Recent Comments