Question about Cooking Clams?!
Question about Cooking Clams?
Hello! I just purchased fresh clams from the Outer Banks and tonight I tried to make a clam chowder but when I went to pull the clams out of their shells, they were full of impurities and had a horribly salty taste. I had soaked the clams for 20 minutes in fresh water before cooking in order to try to 'filter' them. I have more to try and cook but I wanted to get advice from anyone on how to kill the salt/impurities in the clams. Thanks!
Answers:
You didn't soak them long enough.
Here is a link that has specific instructions
http://www.hormel.com/templates/template...
soak the clams for 20 minutes in a tub of fresh cool water with one cup of corn meal added. The clams will open and eat the cornmeal (which will be good when you cook them) as it causes them to expell whatever other things they are carrying around when you caught them.
Those which float should be discarded
Those which will not tuck their heads back into the shell when you tap the head should be discarded. (If they dont move, they are possibly dead, and they will make you ill)
Other than that - good luck...
First clean them under running water (de-"beard" them) and throw out the clams that open up and don't shut. Additonally, throw out any that are chipped or broken. The easiest way to soak them is to put a collander in a larger bowl and after soaking 20 minutes, run water over them as you lift the collander out of the bowl. This way the sand and dirt stay in the bigger bowl.