Steamed Clams and Mussels

Cooking steamed clams and mussels at home is easy.  I made some last week.  We ate the mussels as starter, and the clams with cirioline all’uovo (an egg pasta) as the main course.  The wine was a Navarro Sauvignon Blanc from California.

The most important thing is to get fresh live mollusks.  I avoid shops that keep their clams and mussels in tanks of water because I cannot be certain about the quality of the recirculating water.  I prefer shops that keep their products on ice in refrigerated display cases.

Once home, I put the mollusks in a bowl, fill it with cold water and leave it in the fridge for them to spit out the sand from inside their shells.  A Japanese old lady once told me that putting a rusty nail in the water would make the clams clear out all their grits.  I never had a rusty nail handy when I cook clams so I cannot vouch for the claim.  Before I cook them, I scrub the outside surface of each mollusk to get rid of grits and rinse them a few times.  I throw away cracked ones.

Mussels have beards.  I just trim off the exposed portion.  If you want to pull them off completely, do it right before cooking because de-bearding kills the mussels.

I heat up some olive oil and butter (or shrimp butter if I have some on hand) in a large heavy pot and fry some sliced shallots, crushed garlic and one or two small red chili peppers.  Sometimes I also add sliced salt pork, or pancetta, or chunks of spicy hot sausages.  Once everything is nicely browned, I pour in some dry white wine and reduced shrimp stock (optional) and bring it to a boil.  I leave the heat at high, dump the mollusks in, and put the lid on for a few minutes.  I then uncover the pot and continue cooking.  I remove them as soon as their shells open to avoid overcooking.  I discard any that does not open (I do not force open them, especially not in the pot or the soup bowl, because in the best case they are bad and in the worst case their inside is filled with mucky grit and slime).