'Tis the season for clams! Baked, grilled, steamed, or deep-fried: we'll eat them any way we can get them.
When cooking clams at home, one thing that can pose a challenge is getting the sand out of the shells. Crunching into gritty clam is enough to ruin anyone's summer meal!
Sand is particularly an issue if you buy wild or fresh clams. These guys have been spent their lives nestled snugly on the ocean floor, happily siphoning sand along with the rest of their diet. Farm-raised clams are usually cleaned and flushed of sand before they're sold, so cleaning them isn't as much of a concern.
First, gently tap any clams with open shells against the counter top. Discard any clams that do not close their shells within a few minutes or that have cracked or chipped shells.
Place all the clams in a bowl and fill it with cool tap water. We've also heard that adding cornmeal or black pepper to the water will encourage the clams to spit out more sand.
Let the clams sit for 20 minutes to an hour. During this time, they will spit out the sand from inside their shells.
When you're ready to cook, lift each clam from the water and scrub it to clean any particles or grit from the outside surface. It's better to lift them individually because straining them into a colander would dump the sand back on top.
Once clean, clams are ready to be used in your recipe! We love them straight off the grill or tossed with linguine.
How do you like your clams?
Related: How to Clean and Debeard Mussels
(Image: Flickr member ktylerconk licensed under Creative Commons)
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I've always purged them in water with salt. That seems to do the trick.
I like them steamed with white wine, garlic, andouille sausage, cilantro and extra virgin olive oil. Thanks George!
view art's profile
My mom puts in them in a tub of water in the fridge and a few spoons of flour.
view PinkThumb's profile
cornmeal works for me.
view iaintgoingthere's profile
I do it with salt... we just salt cool tap water and place them in. My favorite recipe for clams is what we call here in Portugal "Ameijôas à Bulhão Pato". It's so simple to make and so, so good. Put some olive oil and a little bit of butter in a pan, then add garlic cloves (don't peal them, just wash them and smash them gently just to make an opening so that the juice come out). Let it stir a bit, add the clams, some white wine, but not much, lots and lots of coriander (not minced, just washed). When the clams open, just let them be there for a little more and take the pan from the stove. Serve with fresh lemon juice pored over the clams if you like. It's amazing, and I'm not kidding!
view Ana Almeida's profile