How to Clean & Prepare Fresh Clams
Steamed hard- or soft-shelled clams, a staple menu item on the Jersey shore, are easy to prepare at home. To avoid the unpleasant texture of sand in your food, it's important to wash clams to remove any sand and debris they might have accumulated on the ocean floor. In less than a half-hour, you can easily clean, steam and serve a complete fresh clam dish. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- 1 lb or more clams (hard- or soft-shelled)
- Large bowl
- Stiff brush
- Large saucepan with cover
- ¼ cup white wine for each dozen clams
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tbsp. butter
- Bread
Instructions
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1
Select tightly closed, intact live clams from your supplier. Take the clams home and immediately store them in cold water or clean them in preparation for cooking.
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2
Rinse the clams under cold water. Scrub the clam shells with a stiff brush to remove barnacles, sand and debris.
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3
Place the clams in a bowl full of cold, fresh water. Wait 20 minutes for the clams to rid themselves of excess salt and sand. The debris will sink to the bottom of the bowl.
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4
Scrub off any remaining debris with your stiff brush.
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5
Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Add your butter and let it melt.
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6
Add the garlic to your pan and stir it into the butter. Keep stirring until your garlic turns tan.
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7
Place your clams in a single layer in the saucepan and stir to coat the shells with the butter garlic sauce.
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8
Add your wine to the mix and cover your saucepan.
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9
Wait three or four minutes before taking the lid off. Observe your clams to make sure all the shells are open. Discard any clams with closed shells.
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10
Serve the clams with the liquid and a piece of bread to soak up the juice. You can also save the liquid for chowder stock or toss the clams and their liquid with cooked linguine.
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References
- Photo Credit Clams in dish image by kellykramer from Fotolia.com
