Simply Seafood

Savory Summer CLAMBAKES

Lobster Bake Sunny days and lots of fresh seafood make summer the prime time for entertaining. So bring out the shellfish and bring on the clambakes. No matter where you live, a clambake makes a great summer party. While traditional clambakes are associated with sand and surf, your kitchen or patio can work just as well. All you need are the right ingredients and some good friends (with big appetites).

Simply Seafood has come up with three regional variations of the classic clambake. Each recipe features local specialties: the typical Northeastern combination of lobsters and clams, a Southeastern version with shrimp and clams and a Western version with Dungeness crab. We’ve also streamlined the traditional cooking method by replacing the rock-lined fire pit with a big stock pot to make an easy one-pot party meal to cook at home or grill on the beach.

Cooking Tips

To use the fast cooking steam to its best advantage, layer seafood and vegetables, enough for six generous servings in a deep pot or canning kettle. Dense red potatoes or sweet potatoes go in first – placed on a steamer rack so they won’t get soggy. Ears of corn line the edge. Then comes the seafood and the clams, loosely wrapped in cheesecloth on the top. Douse with beer or white wine (nonalcoholic versions are available) and cover everything with a layer of cornhusks or, if you live near the beach, seaweed to seal in the briny flavor.

Checking for Doneness

Red Lobster & Hands There are three ways to tell when your clambake is done. First, watch for the moment when the pot starts to steam vigorously. From that point it takes about 15 minutes of energetic steaming until everything is ready. Cooked lobsters and crab will be bright red, shrimp will be pink and the clams will be open. Also, to make it easy to tell if the potatoes are tender without emptying the whole pot, place one "tester" potato near the top to check after 15 minutes. When a fork easily penetrates the potato, the clambake is done.

Purchasing Tips

Live seafood is becoming and more available. Look for lobster or crab at your local fish counter’s live tank or have it shipped direct to your door from a wide number of purveyors on the Internet. Live clams – in a variety of sizes and species – are there for the digging among our vast coastlines (check local seasons and regulations) or take the easy way out and buy them locally. If you can’t get live crab or lobster, raw, shell-on shrimp is readily available at most seafood counters. Increase the amount if shrimp is the only seafood in the pot and make your clambake a shrimpbake.

Curious About Clams?

“Although clam terminology may seem like a muddy matter, a little knowledge quickly clears the waters.”

Is a steamer a softshell or a hardshell clam? What’s the difference between a littleneck and a Little Neck? Why are quahogs cheaper than topnecks? Do Manila clams really come from the Philippines?

Confused? Keep clam. Although clam terminology may seem like a muddy matter, a little knowledge quickly clears the waters.

First things first. Most of the clams consumed in this country are either Surf Clams or Ocean Quahogs, two species that are dredged in large quantities well offshore. The meat from these clams is cooked, sliced, diced and used in a wide variety of processed products like breaded clam strip and chowders.

Eastern Hard Clam

The most widely consumed clam from the shell is the Eastern Hard Clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, which is harvested from Maine to Florida. Hard clam terminology is confusing because they’re sold under a variety of regional names, depending on their size. As a result, people tend to think the different sizes are different species. Eastern hard shells, especially Little Necks, are the only clam commonly served raw on the halfshell.

The Little Neck (named after Little Neck Bay on the northeast coast of New York’s Long Island, once a thriving center of the halfshell trade) is the smallest (and most expensive) size of hard clam. Little Necks average about 10 to 12 per pound.

Small Ocean Quahogs are sometimes marketed as "Golden Littlenecks," but they are a different species entirely.

Other common hard clam sizes include: Topnecks, which average 6 to 8 per pound, Cherrystones (named after Cherrystone Creek on Virginia’s Eastern Shore), which average 3 to 5 per pound and Chowders or Quahogs, which average 1 to 2 clams per pound.

The price of hard clams varies dramatically with size. Little Necks, for example, will wholesale for $90 a bushel, while chowders, which have tougher meat, bring less than $25 a bushel.

Softshell Clam

Also called Ipswich clams, steamer clam or belly clam, softshell clams, Mya arenia, are very popular in the Northeast. Although they are found from Newfoundland to North Carolina, softshells are harvested commercially mostly in New Brunswick, Maine, Massachusetts and Maryland.

Softshells, which are easily distinguished by their long necks, big hanging stomachs and fragile shells that do not close completely, average about 12 to 15 clams per pound.

Manila Clam

“This species was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in the 1920s, when it hitchhiked in a shipment of seed oysters from Japan.”

On the West Coast, the most common clam is the Manila clam, Tapes japonica. This species was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in the 1920s, when it hitchhiked in a shipment of seed oysters from Japan. Harvested in both Washington and British Columbia, Manilas run about 20 clams per pound.

Wets Coast commercial diggers also harvest the native littleneck, Protothaca staminea, which is about the same size (but not to be confused with) the East Coast Little Neck (two words, got it?).

The Meat of the Matter

Although it will vary depending on the season (unfortunately a clam’s meat yield is lower in the summer after it spawns), a pound of live hard clams will yield about 4 ounces of meat, while a pound of live softshells will give you about 6 to 8 ounces of meat.

Which Clam is the Best for a Clambake?

It’s strictly a matter of taste. Some people like small tender clams, while others like their clams on the larger, meatier side. Our advice is to experiment with different species and sizes. Whatever you choose, though, we think you’ll agree clams are in a culinary class by themselves.

Clambake Tips

To rid clams of any sand, soak them in a large bowl of cool water with 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of corn meal. Repeat after 30 minutes two or three times.
Keep live shellfish alive and cold until cooked. Transport to your picnic site in a cooler with plenty of ice. Lobster and crab will move when touched, while clams and mussels will close their shells.
Avoid cross contaminating cooked seafood with uncooked seafood. Use separate cutting boards, dishes and utensils for raw and cooked.