Technically, razor clams are in the same family as cherrystone and littleneck, but they don’t look anything like the clams typically found in linguine. In this week’s episode of Fresh Catch, Eater’s live seafood explainer series, Adam Gerringer-Dunn of Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co. explains how to prep these tasty bivalves in 10 minutes flat.
Almost the entire creature is edible, which makes preparation a cinch. The one trick: Unlike littlenecks, razor clams have a brittle shell. That means it can crack easily during the opening process. It also makes these clams tricky to harvest — they can’t be raked up, so each one is caught by hand. To avoid cracking the shells during the cleaning process, use a knife to scape the muscle away from one side of the shell, and then gently pull the shell apart by hand. From there, just scrape away the black stomach, and the rest of the muscle is delicious.
Geringer-Dunn put together a quick dish by topping the halved clams with a sauce of olive oil, lemon, garlic, and parsley, and searing them briefly in a hot pan to add a little color. They can also make a tasty crudo when sliced up raw and paired with citrus flavors.
To see this process in action, check out the video above. For more lessons in seafood, head to Eater’s Facebook page Thursdays at 11 a.m. to catch new episodes of Fresh Catch. Each week Geringer-Dunn will walk live viewers through preparation of a sustainable fish, mollusk, crustacean, or bivalve.
