Natural form

Live littleneck clams in their closed shells, showing the ribbed texture and grey-brown coloring.

Shows the reader exactly what to look for when buying fresh live clams at a market.

Proteins

Clam

Sweet, briny bivalves for chowders, pasta, and steaming

Tender and sweetly briny, clams steam open for linguine alle vongole and enrich a chowder with their liquor. Purge them of grit and cook live, the day you buy.

Clams are burrowing bivalves with sweet, briny meat, ranging from tiny tender littlenecks to big chewy chowder clams — and like mussels they steam open in their own flavorful liquor in minutes. Small hard-shell clams (littlenecks, manila, cockles) are the ones for steaming whole and for the great clam pastas (vongole), where their salty juices make the sauce. Larger clams are chopped into chowders and fritters. The challenges are purging their sand (a soak in salted water) and the same live-shellfish safety rules as mussels. Cheap, quick, and intensely of-the-sea, clams turn a handful of pantry ingredients into something special.

Measured in: g
Storage: Refrigerate
Shelf life: 2 days

Allergens

Shellfish

Find it in

Seafood

Types & varieties

Littleneck clams

Small, tender hard-shells — best for steaming and vongole.

Manila clams

Sweet little clams, common and quick to open.

Cherrystone / quahog (large)

Bigger and chewier; chopped for chowder and stuffing.

Razor clams

Long-shelled; grilled or quickly sautéed.

Cockles

Tiny sweet clams for pasta and seafood plates.

Littleneck Clam

Small, tender hard-shell clam that opens fast. Steam for linguine alle vongole or chowder; the smallest size, so it stays sweet and tender.

Razor Clam

Long narrow clam with sweet, meaty flesh that toughens if overcooked; flash-grilled, sauteed in garlic and wine, or sliced raw, cooking in just a minute or two.

How to choose

Buy live clams with tightly closed shells (or that close when tapped) and a clean sea smell; reject cracked, gaping, or strong-smelling ones. Small hard-shell clams are best for steaming whole; large clams for chowder. They should feel heavy and full.

How to store / food safety

Store live clams cold and breathing under a damp cloth in the fridge — never sealed airtight or submerged in fresh water — and cook the day you buy them. Discard any clam that won't close before cooking or won't open after. Purge sand by soaking them in cold salted water for 20–30 minutes. Cook through until the shells open and the flesh is firm, discarding any that don’t open; clams are a shellfish allergen. Raw and undercooked shellfish can carry Vibrio, norovirus, and hepatitis A — people who are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised, or who have liver disease or diabetes should not eat them raw, as Vibrio vulnificus infection can be life-threatening for these groups.

How to cook

Soak to purge grit, scrub the shells, then steam in a hot covered pot with wine, garlic, and aromatics for five to ten minutes until they open — discard any that stay shut. For vongole, toss the opened clams and their strained liquor through pasta with garlic, chili, and parsley. Chop large clams into chowder. As with all bivalves, don't overcook them tough.